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" mature  anrl  Lpws  would  be  in  an  ill  case,  if  Slavery  should  find  what  to  say  for  itsel/,  and  Liberty 
be  mute  :  and  jf  tyrants  should  find  men  to  plead  for  them,  and  they  that  can  waste  and  vanquish 
kvTanbs,  isntnild  not  be  able  to  find  advocates."  Milton. 


IN  FIVE  VOLUMES 

VOL.  III. 


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PREFACE  TO  VOLUME   III, 


The  first  volume  of  these  Works  contains  a  Biographical  Me 
moir  of  Mr.  Seward,  his  Speeches  and  Debates  in  the  Senate  of 
New  York,  his  Speeches  and  Debates  in  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  and  his  Forensic  Arguments. 

The  second  volume  comprises  all  his  State  Papers — Messages, 
Official  Correspondence,  and  Pardon  Papers. 

The  contents  of  the  present  volume  have  been  classified  under 
the  following  heads,  viz. :  Orations  and  Discourses,  Occasional 
Speeches  and  Addresses,  Executive  Speeches,  Political  Wri- 
tings, General  Correspondence,  and  Speeches  in  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  continued  from  Yol.  I. 

The  Orations  and  Discourses  on  various  subjects,  with  which 
the  volume  commences,  embrace  the  more  elaborate  productions 
of  Mr.  Seward,  including  his  Eulogies  on  Lafayette,  O'Connell, 
John  Quincy  Adams,  Daniel  Webster,  and  Henry  Clay. 

The  Occasional  Speeches  and  Addresses,  which  follow,  have 
been  selected,  not  with  reference  to  their  literary  or  rhetorical 
merits  chiefly,  but,  as  has  been  remarked  in  another  place,  be- 
cause they  contain  opinions  and  sentiments  that  are  important 
in  presenting  a  faithful  record  of  Mr.  Seward's  public  life. 

During  Governor  Seward's  administration,  he  had  several  offi- 
cial interviews  with  the  chiefs  of  the  few  remaining  Indian  tribes 


4  PREFACE. 

in  this  state.  The  speeches  which  were  made  on  these  occa- 
sions are  presented  in  this  volume  under  the  title  of  Executive 
Speeches. 

Under  the  head  of  Political  Whitings,  will  be  found  a  num- 
ber of  Addresses  written  by  Mr.  Seward  at  different  times,  ex- 
plaining the  principles  and  action  of  the  political  party  to  which 
he  was  attached,  and  exposing  the  errors  of  the  opposite  party. 

The  General  Correspondence  which  has  been  collected  in  this 
volume  forms  an  interesting  portion  of  its  contents.  This  corre- 
spondence includes  many  private  letters  on  important  topics,  re- 
lating to  Politics,  Internal  Improvements,  Slavery,  and  Educa- 
tion. These  letters,  of  which  many  were  written  with  no  expec- 
tation of  their  being  made  public,  afford  additional  proofs  of  the 
remarkable  consistency  of  Mr.  Seward's  public  and  private  life. 

The  Letters  from  Europe  have  been  selected  from  a  series 
which  appeared  in  the  "  Albany  Evening  Journal"  of  1834.  This 
series  originally  contained  about  seventy  letters,  all  of  them  pos- 
sessing more  than  ordinary  interest ;  but  the  limits  of  this  volume 
have  obliged  us  to  be  content  with  a  brief  selection. 

The  Speeches  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  in  this  vol- 
ume, embrace  the  Speeches  which  Mr.  Seward  delivered  in  the 
Senate  at  the  close  of  the  XXXIId  Congress.  The  larger  por- 
tion of  his  speeches  and  debates  in  that  body  will  be  found  in 
the  first  volume,  which  had  gone  to  press  before  the  delivery  of 
those  herewith  presented. 

The  Engraving  in  this  volume  presents  a  view  of  the  residence 
of  Governor  Seward  at  Auburn.  It  wTill  be  recognised  by  hosts 
of  Mr.  Seward's  friends,  as  the  abode  of  domestic  comfort  and 
genuine  hospitality.  Madame  Pulszky,  in  her  recent  book  of 
travels  in  America,*  thus  describes  it :  — 

""We  spent  Saturday  and  Sunday  at  the  pleasant  home  of 
Governor  Seward.     He  was  detained  at  Washington,  but  Mrs. 


*  "  Sketches  of  American  Society,"  by  Francis  and  Thkeesa  Pulszky,  vol.  ii,  p.  209. 
Kedfield:  New  York. 


PREFACE.  5 

Seward  lias  welcomed  and  entertained  us  with  her  own  amiable 
cordiality. 

"The  mansion — furnished  with  comfortable  simplicity — is 
adorned  by  the  elegant  neatness  which  pervades  it  in  every 
room,  in  every  corner.  An  ample  and  carefully-selected  library, 
family  portraits,  with  a  striking  likeness  of  John  Quincy  Adams, 
cover  the  walls.  Nothing  in  this  house  is  luxurious,  nothing 
superfluous,  but  every  want  is  provided  for  with  good  taste,  and 
every  object  offers  immediate  use  or  presents  interesting  associa- 
tions. The  foliage  of  ancient  trees  shades  our  windows,  and 
allures  us  to  step  down  into  the  garden,  whose  fragrance  fills  the 
rooms.  Well-kept  arbors  line  the  walls ;  the  air  is  perfumed  by 
Narcissuses,  hyacinths,  and  syringas,  around  which  cluster  rich 
garlands  of  tulips  and  lovely  Cupid-arrows.  In  these  pleasant 
grounds  we  meet  the  members  of  the  family  who  are  now  stay- 
ing at  Auburn:  the  little  daughter  of  Mrs.  Seward,  and  her 
nephew,  to  whom  she  has  been  a  mother ;  his  sweet  young  wife, 
and  Mrs.  "Worden,  Mrs.  Seward's  sister." 

The  Editor. 

4 

Williamsbuegh,  L.  L,  March  16,  1853. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  III. 


ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 
The  True  Greatness  of  our  Country — Death  of  Lafayette — Death  of  O'Connell — Death 
of  John  Quincy  Adams — Death  of  Henry  Clay — Death  of  Daniel  Webster — Death 
of  David  Berdan — Internal  Improvements  and  Education — Education,  Westfield, 
1837 — Ireland  and  Irishmen — Agriculture,  Albany,  1842 — Improvement  of  Farms 
and  Farmers,  Rutland,  1852 Page     1 1 

OCCASIONAL  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 
The  Union,  Auburn,  1825 — For  Greece,  Auburn,  1827 — Patriotism,  Syracuse,  July  4, 
1831 — Typographical  Society,  Albany,  1839 — Sunday  School  Celebration,  Staten 
Island,  1839 — To  the  Citizens  of  Ogdensburgh,  1839 — To  the  Catholics  of  Ogdens- 
burgh,  1839— To  the  Citizens  of  Steuben,  1839— To  the  Irishmen  of  Albany,  1840 
— Anniversary  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  1839 — Centennial,  Cherry  Valley 
1840 — St.  Patrick's  Dinner,  1842 — Croton  Celebration,  1842 — John  Quincy  Adams, 
on  his  Visit  to  Auburn,  1843 — Whig  Meeting,  Auburn,  1844 — Election  of  1844, 
Syracuse — Ireland  and  Native  Americans,  1844 — Whig  Meeting,  Yates  County, 
1844 — St.  Patrick's  Dinner,  1846 — Eulogy  on  John  Quincy  Adams,  in  Court,  1848 
— Horticultural  Festival,  Boston,  1848 — Whig  Meeting,  Boston,  1848 — Whig 
Meeting,  Cleveland,  Ohio,  1848 — Cartmen's  Meeting,  New  York,  1848 — New 
York  and  Erie  Railroad,  1837— New  York  and  Erie  Railroad,  1851 191 

EXECUTIVE  SPEECHES. 
To  Abraham  Le  Fort,  an  Onondaga  Chief — To  Moses  Schuyler,  an  Oneida  Chief- 
Completion  of  the  Western  Railroad  of  Massachusetts,  Springfield,  1842 325 

POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 
Address  of  a  Republican  Convention,  1824 — Address  of  the  Minority  of  the  Legislature, 
1831 — Address  of  the  Minority  of  the  Legislature,  1834 — Address  of  the  Minority 
of  the  Legislature,  1844— The  True  Issue,  1838 335 

GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 
Political  Letters. — To  Adonijah  Moody — H.  C.  W. — General  Harrison — Citizens  of 
Albany — B.  S. — Hon.  Luther  Bradish — John  C.  Clark — George  R.  Babcock — 
Whigs  of  Orleans — Benjamin  Squire — Whigs  of  Michigan — Calvin  Townsley — 
George  Ashmun — Jarvis  N.  Lake — Washington  Hunt — James  Brooks — Chau- 
tauque  Convention — Orleans  Whig  Convention — E.  J.  Fowle — James  Watson 
Webb— James  B.  Taylor 375 


8  CONTENTS  OF  VOL.  III. 

Internal  Improvements. — To  Citizens  of  Tioga — Samuel  P.  Lyman — Edgar  A.  Barber 
— George  Bliss — James  Bowen — Pacific  Kailroad  Convention 417 

Slavery. — To  William  Jay  and  Gerrit  Smith — John  Sears — John  Quincy  Adams — 
Jabez  D.  Hammond — Austin  Pray — Thomas  Clarkson — Colored  Citizens  of  New- 
York — Colored  Citizens  of  Albany — Gerri,t  Smith — Salmon  P.  Chase — National 
Intelligencer — Massachusetts  Convention 426 

The  M'Leod  Case.— To  Peter  B.  Porter— Thomas  Ewing— Lovell  G.  Mickles— Eliphalet 
Nott,  D.D. — John  Quincy  Adams 449 

Miscellaneous. — Holland  Land  Company,  Citizens  of  Chautauque  County — St.  Nicholas 
Society,  Kobert  H.  Pruyn — Irish  Testimonial,  W.  J.  MacNeven — St.  Andrew's 
Society,  Albany — Adopted  Citizens  of  Philadelphia,  Stephen  E.  Rice — Extradition 
of  Fugitives  from  Justice,  H.  W.  Rogers — De  Witt  Clinton,  Edward  C.  Delavan 
— State  Credits,  William  Brown — Prison  Discipline,  Rev.  John  Lucky — Religious 
Liberty,  John  Dillon  Smith — State  Credits,  William  Brown — St.  George's  Society, 
B.  H.  Downing — Law  Reform,  Benjamin  Cahoone — Cunard  Steamers — Schools, 
William  Palmer — Militia  Duty,  Samuel  Parsons — Schools,  Rev.  John  Hughes,  D.D. 
— Seneca  Indians,  Jacob  Harvey — Condolence,  Louis  Gaylord  Clark — Schools, 
Benjamin  Birdsall — Irish  Repeal,  Edmund  S.  Derry — Dickens's  Notes,  Henry  L. 
Webb — Irishmen  of  Auburn — Ireland  and  Irishmen,  James  Maher — Barbecue  at 
Cherry  Valley,  James  Brackett — New  York  Prison  Association — Kossuth,  Citizens 
of  Philadelphia,  New  York  Bar,  Printers  of  Pittsburgh 45*7 

LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 
L  Liverpool— II.  Chester— III.  Dublin— IV.  Dublin,  Robert  Emmett— V.  Belfast— 
VL  Glasgow,  Moore,  Watt — VII.  Edinburgh,  Slavery,  Burns,  Hume — VIH.  York, 
London,  Windsor— IX.  Cobbett,  Peel,  O'Connell— X.  Holland— XL  Arrival  at 
Paris — XII.  Paris,  Chamber  of  Deputies,  Louis  Philippe — XIII.  Lafayette  at 
Paris — XIV.  Lafayette  at  La  Grange 508 

SPEECHES  IN  THE  SENATE  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
(Continued  from  Vol.  I.) 
Continental  Rights  and   Relations — Eulogy  on  Hon.  A.  H  Buell — Relations  with 
Mexico  and  the  Continental  Railroad — Duty  on  Foreign  Railroad  Iron — Texas 
and  her  Creditors 603 

See  Index  on  page  67  5. 


ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 


>v      OF  THE  'r 

UNIVERSITY 


ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 


THE  TRUE  GEEATKESS  OF  OUR  COUNTRY. 

Patriotism  is  allied  to  philosophy,  and  inseparable  from  be- 
nevolence. A  virtuous  citizen  is  not  satisfied  with  knowing  that 
his  country  is  great,  and  free,  and  happy ;  he  desires  to  under- 
stand why  it  is  so,  what  are  the  elements  of  its  empire,  how  long 
they  will  endure,  and  what  will  be  their  perfect  development ; 
because  he  knows  that  his  country  and  his  race  are  immortal, 
and  he  feels  assured  that,  although  mortal  himself,  he  shall  not 
altogether  perish. 

We  have  the  authority  of  Lord  Bacon  to  the  effect  that  "  the 
true  greatness  of  kingdoms  and  estates,  and  the  means  thereof,  is 
an  argument  fit  for  great  and  mighty  princes  to  have  in  their 
hands,  to  the  end  that  neither  by  overmeasuring  their  forces  they 
lose  themselves  in  vain  enterprises,  nor,  on  the  other  side,  by 
undervaluing  them,  they  descend  to  fearful  and  pusillanimous 
counsels." 

The  same  profound  philosopher  remarked  that  "  the  greatness 
of  an  estate  in  bulk  and  territory  doth  fall  under  measure,  and 
the  greatness  of  finances  and  revenue  doth  fall  under  computa- 
tion. The  population  may  appear  by  numbers,  and  the  number 
and  greatness  of  cities  and  towns  by  cards  and  maps.     But  yet 

Note. — This  discourse  was  delivered  in  Baltimore,  on  the  22d  of  December,  1848, 
before  the  "Young  Catholic  Friends'  Society"  of  that  city.  The  same  discourse  was- 
also  substantially  delivered  before  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  Society  of  Union  College,  and 
before  the  Literary  Society  of  Amherst  College,  in  1844. — Ed. 


12  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

there  is  not  anything  among  civil  affairs  more  subject  to  error 
than  the  right  valuation  and  true  judgment  concerning  the  power 
and  forces  of  an  estate.  *  *  *  There  are  states  great  in  ter- 
ritory, and  yet  not  apt  to  command ;  and  some  that  bear  but  a 
small  dimension  of  stem,  and  yet  apt  to  be  the  foundation  of 
great  monarchies." 

Let  us  attempt  to  make  such  a  valuation  of  "  the  power  and 
forces"  of  our  country ;  not  merely  to  "  blazon  and  amplify"  a 
theme  pleasing  to  national  pride,  but  to  obtain  its  necessary  and 
useful  instructions. 

Comprehensive  national  greatness  requires  ample  space,  in  a 
suitable  region,  a  large  population  possessing  mental  activity 
and  resolution,  and  a  government  well  adapted  to  the  character 
and  condition  of  the  people,  and  conducted  with  wisdom. 

Our  territory  is  a  belt  across  the  continent,  approaching  on 
either  side  the  limit  of  the  temperate  zone.  It  is  not  broken 
into  separate  and  distinct  fragments,  divided  from  each  other  by 
impassable  mountain-barriers,  by  intervening  states  or  provinces, 
or  by  seas  subject  to  hostile  intrusion  ;  but  it  is  one  whole  domin- 
ion, continuous,  compact,  and  inseparable.  We  need  scarcely 
say  that  its  climate  is  salubrious,  and  that  its  land  and  waters  are 
rich  in  stores  for  the  supply  of  human  wants  in  every  stage  and 
•condition  of  social  life.  Nowhere  does  man  find  more  abundantly 
than  here  the  rocks  of  endless  variety  and  the  trees  of  numberless 
kinds  with  which  he  builds  and  adorns  his  dwellings,  his  defences, 
liis  temples,  his  roads,  his  wharves,  and  his  ships ;  the  plants  and 
animals  which  supply  him  with  subsistence  and  minister  to  his 
health,  his  comfort,  and  his  pride ;  the  minerals  from  which  he 
forges  his  implements  of  peaceful  toil  and  of  mortal  strife,  and 
the  precious  metals  by  which,  in  the  ever-enlarging  circle  of  ex- 
change, he  compares  the  values  of  all  appreciable  tilings. 

Long-branching  rivers  with  deep  channels,  and  broadly-expand- 
ing lakes  with  spacious  bays,  all  connected  or  capable  of  connec- 
tion, offer  necessary  and  convenient  facilities  for  free  intercourse, 
mutual  traffic,  and  public  defence  ;  and  these  natural  bonds,  mul- 
tiplied by  artificial  ligaments  —  roads,  canals,  railroads,  and  tele- 
graphs, continually  extending  and  fastening  upon  every  part  of 
this  comprehensive  region — hold  it  together  in  union  as  indisso- 
luble as  it  was  inevitable. 

The  American  continent,  with  its  adjacent  islands — a  continent 


THE  TRUE  GREATNESS  OF  OUR  COUNTRY.  13 

extending  southward  beyond  the  equatorial  line,  and  northward 
to  the  arctic  circle  —  will,  at  no  distant  period,  have  on  our  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  coasts  necessary  and  naturally  reciprocating 
markets  for  the  productions  of  all  its  various  latitudes.  The  same 
markets,  situated  midway  between  the  ancient  continents,  and 
very  soon  to  be  connected  with  direct  highways  which  will  super- 
sede a  costly  and  dangerous  navigation,  will  invite  equally,  and 
with  irresistible  attraction  on  the  one  side,  the  commerce  of  Eu- 
rope and  Africa,  and  on  the  other  that  of  the  rising  insular  com- 
munities in  the  Southern  ocean,  as  well  as  the  trade  of  the  popu- 
lous regions  of  China  and  the  eastern  Indies.  An  intellectual 
and  active  people,  holding  a  position  so  favorable  and  possessing 
resources  so  boundless,  could  not  fail  to  secure  the  freedom  of 
the  seas,  without  which  no  nation  in  modern  times  can  be  great; 
while  they  would  furnish  a  political  alembic  which,  receiving  the 
exhausted  civilization  of  Asia  and  the  ripening  civilization  of 
wTestern  Europe,  and  commingling  them  together  after  their  long 
separation,  would  disclose  the  secret  of  the  ultimate  regeneration 
and  reunion  of  human  society  throughout  the  world. 

Population,  not  disturbed  by  arbitrary  interference,  increases 
and  declines  with  the  abundance  and  scarceness  of  subsistence ;, 
but  abundance  and  scarceness  depend  not  on  the  relative  fertility 
of  the  earth  only,  but  also  on  the  comparative  temperance  and 
vigor  of  the  cultivators.    The  soil  of  the  eastern  and  middle  states 

CD 

is  less  fruitful  than  that  of  most  of  the  western  regions.  Indeed, 
only  the  intelligent  hands  of  freemen  could  have  tilled  the  rug- 
ged hillsides  of  New  England,  and  drawn  forth  wealth  from  its 
oreless  rocks  and  treacherous  seas.  The  population  of  the  United 
States,  if  it  should  expand  on  the  same  ratio  to  the  square  mile 
which  is  maintained  in  New  England,  would  be  one  hundred  and 
twenty-six  millions.  It  may  increase  above  twice  that  number, 
and  yet  be  less  dense  than  the  population  of  Italy,  or  of  France,, 
or  of  Austria,  or  of  Spain,  or  of  the  British  islands.  When  we 
consider  the  certainty  of  immigration  from  Asia,  in  addition  to 
the  torrent  pouring  in  from  Europe,  and  the  constant  flow  into 
the  western  states  and  territories  from  our  eastern  communities 
—  and  when  we  consider  also  the  permanence  of  these  several 
sources  of  increase  —  we  have  no  room  to  doubt  that  it  may  be 
estimated  for  the  future  on  the  basis  of  calculation  established  by 
past  experience.     That  basis  demands  a  population  of  thirty  mil- 


14:  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

lions  in  I860,  of  fifty  millions  in  1880,  of  eighty  millions  in  1900,  and 
of  more  than  double  that  number  in  less  than  one  hundred  years. 

The  Americans  are  a  homogeneous  people,  and  must  remain 
so  ;  because,  however  widely  they  expand,  they  swell  in  one  great 
and  unbroken  flood.  All  exotic  elements  are  rapidly  absorbed 
and  completely  assimilated.  The  remnants  of  the  aboriginal  and 
African  tribes,  seeming  incapable  of  such  assimilation,  have  hith- 
erto, in  different  wTays,  affected  and  modified  the  force  of  the  su- 
perior and  controlling  race.  Without  speculating  on  the  ultimate 
destiny  of  either  of  those  unfortunate  classes,  we  may  assume  that 
the  feeble  resistance  they  offer  to  the  aggrandizement  of  the  Cau- 
casian family  is  becoming  less  and  less  continually,  and  will 
finally  altogether  disappear.  Most  other  empires  were  composed, 
not  of  one  homogeneous  people,  but  of  various  tribes,  races,  or 
nations ;  discordant  in  language,  religion,  habits,  and  laws ;  re- 
duced, after  long  conflicts,  into  more  or  less  perfect  combination, 
but  seldom  into  entire  unity.  How  inconceivably  great  must 
have  been  the  waste  of  mental  activity  and  energy,  not  to  speak 
of  numbers  and  treasure,  resulting  from  such  conflicts!  The 
American  people,  on  the  other  hand,  are  practically  one  family. 
The  Roman  people,  like  the  Americans,  were  liberal  in  naturali- 
zation. Like  the  Americans,  they  granted  all  the  rights  of  citi- 
zenship to  strangers,  and  not  only  to  individuals,  but  to  families, 
to  cities,  and  sometimes  to  nations.  The  Romans  also  planted 
colonies,  as  we  do,  in  contiguous  territories.  Hence  it  has  been 
well  said,  in  view  of  those  customs  of  naturalization  and  coloni- 
zation, that  it  seemed  as  if  it  was  not  the  Romans  that  spread 
upon  the  world,  but  it  was  the  world  that  spread  upon  the  Ro- 
mans. 

But  mere  numbers,  independently  of  moral  elements,  do  not 
constitute  strength ;  nor  do  population  and  resources  combined. 
When  Croesus  ostentatiously  showed  his  treasures  to  Solon,  the 
Athenian  replied,  "  If  any  other  come  that  hath  better  iron  than 
you,  he  will  be  master  of  all  this  gold."  The  Spaniard  proved 
this  in  the  halls  of  Montezuma,  and  the  Anglo-American  has 
proved  it  against  the  effeminate  descendant  of  the  Castilian,  in 
the  very  scene  of  his  primary  extortion. 

The  American  people  are  free — not  merely  free,  like  a  nation 
recently  emancipated,  but  they  always  were  free.  Their  political 
independence  or  nationality  does  indeed  date  from  1776;  but 


THE  TRUE  GREATNESS  OF  OUR  COUNTRY.  15 

their  political  liberty  began  with  the  plantation  of  the  colonies 
at  Plymouth,  at  Jamestown,  on  the  island  of  Manhattan,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Delaware,  and  on  the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake.  All 
men  know  and  admit  that  slavery  and  oppression  debase  and  de- 
moralize ;  but  it  is  seldom  duly  considered  that  freedom  elevates 
and  invigorates  in  proportion  to  the  extent  and  duration  of  its 
enjoyment.  The  American  people  inherit  the  discipline,  the  en- 
ergy, and  the  resolution,  of  freemen.  I  dwell  on  their  martial 
ability,  not  because  they  are  or  ought  to  be  a  warlike  people,  but 
because  courage  and  fortitude  are  equally  elements  of  greatness, 
whether  pacific  or  belligerent,  and  because  no  inert  or  effeminate 
nation  can  enjoy  peace  or  security.  War,  therefore,  is  occasion- 
ally necessary,  and  sometimes  inevitable.  In  such  cases  it  is 
"  danger  to  avert  a  danger,  a  present  inconvenience  and  suffering 
to  prevent  a  foreseen  future  and  a  worse  calamity.  These  are 
motives  that  belong  to  a  being  who,  in  his  constitution,  is  at  once 
adventurous  and  provident,  circumspect  and  daring ;  whom  his 
Creator  has  made  of  large  discourse,  looking  before  and  after."* 

The  Divinity  that  presides  over  states  "  loves  courage,  but  com- 
mands counsel."     It  requires  that  they  should  know 

" how  war  may,  best  upheld, 


Move  by  her  two  main  nerves,  iron  and  gold, 
In  all  her  equipage." 

It  is,  nevertheless,  in  social  and  civil  life  that  the  mental  activity 
and  resolution  of  our  countrymen  are  fully  illustrated.  Freedom 
organizes  all  the  great  springs  of  action  in  the  human  system. 
Seventy  years  ago  we  were  a  nation  without  capital,  without 
credit,  with  very  indolent  agriculture,  without  manufactures,  and 
with  a  commerce  struggling  for  life  under  restrictions  which 
bound  this  whole  continent  and  its  islands  in  colonial  vassalage 
to  paternal  states  in  Europe.  We  were  without  a  navy,  and 
without  canals  or  roads,  and  were  hemmed  in  between  the  forest 
and  the  ocean  by  savage  tribes.  Our  schools  gave  scarcely  more 
than  rudimental  education,  and  we  were  without  libraries  or  lit- 
erature, and  without  invention.  It  is  not  presumptuous  to  say 
that  now  we  possess  adequate  capital,  prosperous  agriculture, 
and  rising  manufactures;  that  we  have  redeemed  our  country 
and  most  of  the  continent  from  colonial  dependence;  that  we 

*  Burke. 


16  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

enjoy  a  commerce  second  only  to  that  of  Britain,  and  a  navy 
equal  to  any  bnt  hers ;  and  that  we  have  canals  and  railroads 
spread  like  network  over  all  our  populous  territory ;  that  the  In- 
dian tribes  are  our  stipendiaries ;  and  that  we  have  a  system  of 
general  education,  with  universities  nobly  endowed,  charities  vig- 
orous and  comprehensive,  literature  aspiring  to  excellence,  and 
mechanical  invention  that  has  brought  the  world  under  grateful 
obligation. 

The  influence  of  freedom  is  manifested  in  the  moral  elevation, 
social  order,  and  domestic  virtues,  of  the  people.  The  religion 
of  the  Redeemer  of  mankind  has  been  left  to  perform  its  func- 
tions by  purifying  the  motives  and  refining  the  affections,  free 
from  restraint  and  corruption  by  the  civil  power.  Thus  we  have 
seen  atheism  rebuked  and  repelled  by  the  reason  to  which  it  pre- 
sumptuously appealed ;  law  sustained  without  force  ;  and  woman 
restored  to  her  just  influence  without  the  licentious  aid  of  chiv- 
alry. 

Our  subject  demands,  not  an  exposition  of  our  complex  system 
of  government,  but  only  a  consideration  of  its  influence  upon  the 
national  progress,  and  its  own  probable  durability. 

The  successful  establishment  of  a  republican  government, 
adapted  to  an  expanded  state,  is  itself  a  demonstration  of  national 
greatness.  All  history  describes  indefinite  and  perpetual  aspira- 
tions of  the  wise  and  the  good  for  the  establishment  of  some  du- 
rable system,  in  which  the  people  should  exercise  sovereignty 
over  themselves  without  turbulence  or  imbecility.  At  a  period 
quite  recent  the  failure  of  all  kindred  attempts  had  induced  an 
acquiescence  almost  unbroken,  though  reluctant,  in  the  belief 
that  mankind  were  incompetent  to  self  government,  and  a.  conse- 
quent reference  of  all  authority  exercised  over  them  to  the  ap- 
pointment of  God.  These  principles  drew  after  them  a  universal 
obligation  of  implicit  obedience  to  arbitrary  and  even  despotic 
power — and  therefore  allowed  unlimited  and  unmitigated  op- 
pression. At  length  philosophy  sought  an  escape  from  a  theory 
so  derogatory  from  the  providence  of  the  Creator,  and  so  perni- 
cious to  the  happiness  of  men,  and  attempted  to  substitute  in  its 
place  the  doctrine  that  government,  whatever  might  be  its  form, 
had  been  originally  founded  in  a  contract  between  the  supreme 
authority  and  its  subjects,  which  contract  contained  mutual  obli- 
gations, and  was  dissolved  whenever  the  ruler  transgressed  the 


THE  TRUE  GREATNESS  OF  OUR  COUNTRY.  17 

conceded  boundary  of  authority.  This  theory  was  unsatisfactory 
and  insufficient,  because  it  was  easily  shown  that  the  contract 
assumed  was  purely  imaginary,  and  of  course  that  the  supposed 
obligations  were  incapable  of  being  defined.  The  American  Rev- 
olution cut,  at  a  blow,  the  Gordian  knot,  which  science  had  found 
it  impossible  to  unloose,  and  demonstrated  to  mankind  that  the 
only  foundation  of  authority  was  the  consent  of  the  people,  who 
had  lawful  right  to  subvert,  modify,  or  change  civil  institutions, 
at  their  own  pleasure. 

It  was  well  understood  that  the  only  true  object  of  government 
was  the  happiness  of  the  people,  and  that  "  its  four  pillars  were 
religion,  justice,  counsel,  and  treasure ;"  but  the  possible  estab- 
lishment of  those  pillars  in  a  republican  structure  still  remained 
to  be  demonstrated.  This  was  happily  done  by  the  institution 
of  a  democracy,  based  practically  on  the  principles  of  universal 
toleration  of  conscience  and  universal  suffrage,  which  is  the  per- 
fection of  political  justice,  because  it  is  political  equality.  This 
democracy  was  made  to  act  with  counsel  by  means  of  the  prin- 
ciple of  representation ;  and  the  representatives  in  the  various 
departments  of  the  government  were  made  more  or  less  indepen- 
dent of  popular  control  according  to  the  danger  of  passion  and 
prejudice.  This  system  was  established  in  each  of  the  several, 
states,  clothed  with  powers  adequate  to  the  maintenance  of  order,, 
the  protection  of  personal  liberty,  life,  and  property,  and  the  con- 
duct of  municipal  affairs.  The  same  system  was  distinctly  em- 
bodied in  a  precisely  similar  federal  structure  comprehending  all 
the  states,  relying  on  the  self-renewing  action,  not  of  the  states, 
but  of  the  people,  and  limited  in  its  powers  to  the  management 
of  foreign  relations  and  others  important  to  the  general  welfare. 
The  institution  of  a  judiciary  in  each  state,  to  hold  all  the  repre- 
sentative agencies  within  their  prescribed  spheres,  and  a  supreme 
independent  tribunal  at  the  seat  of  the  federal  government,  with 
appellate  jurisdiction,  enabling  it  to  decide  all  conflicts  between 
state  and  federal  authority,  completed  this  complex  and  extraor- 
dinary structure.  Under  its  shade  property  has  been  safe,  life 
secure,  and  liberty  inviolable ;  social  equality  has  continually 
increased,  and  national  power  has  become  firm,  effective,  and 
immovable.  Such  are  the  instructions  which  our  country  has 
given  to  the  world  in  the  philosophy  of  government.  They  are 
universally  received,  and  they  are  more  precious  than  any  other 

Vol.  III.  — 2 


18  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

human  knowledge  not  derived  by  immediate  illumination  from 
the  Source  of  all  light. 

If,  now,  after  imparting  these  sublime  and  beneficent  instruc- 
tions, this  people  could  at  once  perish  from  the  earth  —  leaving 
only  their  remembrance  behind,  as  of  a  vision  briefly  but  dis- 
tinctly seen  and  then  lost  for  ever  —  it  may  not  be  doubted  that 
they  would  nevertheless  be  held  in  perpetual  memory  for  excel- 
lent wisdom  and  unsurpassed  magnanimity. 

Th  institutions  we  enjoy  have  a  tendency  to  strengthen  their 
own  deep  foundation  in  the  elements  of  national  character  and 
popular  affection.  The  anxiety  to  save  these  institutions  from 
serious  danger  or  overthrow  is  the  predominating  motive  of  every 
citizen  on  every  occasion  of  public  action.  He  holds  his  own 
share  of  sovereignty  by  the  same  tenure  which  limits  their  exist- 
ence, and  he  derives  that  sovereignty  from  the  equality  which 
they  secure.  That  portion  of  sovereignty  is  almost  infinitesimal ; 
yet  it  is  appreciated,  because  it  is  the  safeguard  of  inestimable 
rights,  a  title  to  consideration,  and  an  Appian-way  for  ambition. 

Honor  received  begets  self-respect ;  self-respect  ambition  ;  am- 
bition animates  resolution,  quickens  mental  activity,  and  discerns 
the  advantages  which  knowledge  and  virtue  bring  to  their  pos- 
sessor. Arbitrary  power  procures  the  performance  of  duty  only 
by  the  terror  of  penalties.  Laws  relying  on  that  motive  alone 
will  be  ineffectual,  whether  written  in  the  statute-book  in  blood, 
or  engraven  in  the  rock  by  even  an  Almighty  hand.  A  republic 
employs  emulation  ;  it  offers  wealth,  power,  and  fame,  and  it  dis- 
tributes these  rewards  with  impartiality  and  justice,  in  exact  pro- 
portion to  the  intelligence  of  the  people.  Nor  does  such  emula- 
tion endanger  the  public  safety  by  encouraging  faction.  It  is 
manifest  that  a  republic  could  not  endure  in  a  society  divided 
into  unequal  masses  by  aristocracy.  But  universal  suffrage,  ex- 
ercised with  wisdom  and  moderation,  would  be  the  most  conser- 
vative of  all  institutions  in  a  country  where  the  dissemination  of 
knowledge  and  of  wealth  should  be  nearly  equal. 

There  is  an  opinion  that  our  system  is  unfavorable  to  great  na- 
tional achievements,  which  results  from  the  error  of  regarding 
the  government  as  an  unbalanced,  pure  democracy,  veering  with 
every  breeze,  and  in  danger  of  shipwreck  from  every  storm.  The 
United  States  of  America  are  not  a  mere  city,  or  a  city  with 
suburbs,  easily  subjected  by  machinations  of  intrigue,  or  cor- 


THE  TRUE  GREATNESS  OF  OUR  COUNTRY.  19 

rupted  by  largesses,  or  exposed  to  sudden  and  overwhelming  con- 
vulsions ;  but  they  are  a  nation  of  many  states  confederated,  affil- 
iated, and  even  assimilated,  but  yet  not  absolutely  centralized  or 
-consolidated.  They  are  individual  and  distinct  political  states, 
possessing  elements  and  attributes  of  sovereignty  transcendant 
and  invrolable.  The  ruling  mass  of  citizens  in  each  of  these 
states,  and  of  course  the  governing  constituency  in  the  whole  na- 
tion, are  an  educated,  rural  population,  possessing  property,  and 
dispersed  widely,  reflecting  singly,  and  acting  individually.  The 
day  on  which  the  constitution  of  a  state,  or  the  administration  of 
the  Union,  is  changed  by  the  popular  decree,  is  often  the  most 
quiet  and  tranquil  secular  day  in  the  whole  calendar.  The  col- 
lected will  of  the  majority  is  not  executed  without  encountering 
a  modifying  resistance  by  minorities.  The  state  least  populous, 
in  one  stage  of  legislation,  speaks  in  a  voice  as  potential  as  that 
of  the  greatest.  Above  all,  the  division  of  sovereignty  and  the 
subdivision  of  legislation  break  the  force  of  popular  passion.  Af- 
fairs merely  local  are  conducted  by  agents  appointed  and  acting 
within  the  proper  districts.  Matters  of  more  grave  moment,  re- 
lating to  the  interests  of  the  states,  or  the  rights  of  citizens,  are 
decided  within  the  states  by  representatives  chosen  for  that  pur- 
pose ;  and  only  national  interests  engage  the  consideration  or 
employ  the  action  of  the  federal  authorities.  Each  agent  acts 
subject  to  checks  and  supervision,  but  not  to  interference  by  a 
foreign  department,  or  to  central  control  or  popular  dictation. 

Beyond  doubt,  an  arbitrary  prince  can  execute  a  given  enter- 
prise with  greater  promptness,  energy,  and  firmness,  than  a  gov- 
ernment so  complex.  Nevertheless,  it  must  depend  on  accident 
whether  the  prince  be  wise  and  humane,  or  weak  and  wicked. 
Princes  are  prone  to  mistake  their  own  interests  or  passions  for 
the  general  welfare.  "I  am  France,"  said  the  Bourbon  king. 
There  was  no  one  in  his  councils  to  deny,  no  power  in  the  state 
to  chastise,  the  arrogant  assumption.  Wisdom  needs  to  hear 
the  voice  of  Truth,  and  can  find  it  in  republics  only.  The  battle- 
fields of  Europe,  no  less  than  the  pyramids  of  Africa,  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  ambition  and  the  vanity  of  kings.  The  monuments 
of  their  beneficence  are  few  and  far  between. 

The  energies  and  wealth  of  any  state  are  easily  overtasked,  and 
no  exhausted  state  is  fit  for  enterprise,  or  can  sustain  warfare. 
The  energy  of  one  reign  which  we  admire  is  sure  to  be  followed 


20  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

by  a  long  season  of  inactivity — perhaps  by  ages  of  lethargy. 
Whatever  may  be  the  deficiency  of  the  federal  government  in 
capacity  for  enterprise,  it  is  not  the  only  agency.  There  are  the 
additional  agencies  of  individuals,  of  corporations,  and  of  states. 
If  the  federal  authorities  are  slow  to  undertake  achievements, 
they  leave  the  other  agencies  free  and  strong.  Congress  has 
never  committed,  and  is  not  like  to  commit,  the  great  crime  of 
princes — the  consumption  of  the  public  wealth  of  future  genera- 
tions. On  the  contrary,  we  have  seen  the  phenomenon  of  a  gov- 
ernment free  from  debt,  returning  superfluous  treasures  to  the 
people,  from  whom  they  had  been  unnecessarily  gathered. 

Citizens  thus  virtually  free  from  taxation,  readily  engage  in 
public  enterprises,  either  singly  or  in  association ;'  and  the  states 
in  the  same  condition  complete  works  which,  while  beneficial  to 
themselves,  are  also  important  to  the  nation.  All  our  railroads  and 
canals  are  avenues  of  that  internal  trade  and  that  postal  commu- 
nication, and  are  means  of  that  national  defence,  which  fall  within 
the  subjects  of  action  properly  belonging  to  the  federal  govern- 
ment. Moreover,  that  government  contributes  to  such  enter- 
prises, indirectly,  by  military  explorations,  by  nautical  surveys,, 
and  by  patronage.  Thus  it  happens  that  more  is  achieved  in  this 
country,  in  proportion  to  its  capital,  than  in  any  other ;  and  more, 
perhaps,  than  would  be  accomplished  if  the  federal  government 
should  undertake  exclusively  the  responsibilities  of  improvement. 
There  still  remains,  moreover,  in  the  people  the  power,  when  they 
will,  to  oblige  even  that  government  to  act  directly  and  efficiently. 

The  embarrassments  of  some  cities,  corporations,  and  states,  in- 
curred in  public  enterprises,  do  not  affect  these  conclusions.  They, 
like  all  human  agents,  are  liable  to  occasional  errors  and  disap- 
pointments ;  but  they  can  retrieve  their  errors  and'  renew  their 
resources  more  easily  than  subjects  or  governments  in  otber 
countries.  Our  system  is  to  be  judged,  not  by  its  partial  but  its 
comprehensive  results. 

The  question  remains,  whether  a  government  so  simple  in  prin- 
ciple, yet  so  complex  in  organization,  and  resting  so  much  on 
consent,  can  endure  the  shocks  to  which  it  must  be  exposed. 

It  must  be  conceded  that,  not  only  the  adaptation  of  the  gov- 
ernment to  the  condition  of  the  people,  but  also  their  capacity 
to  understand  and  appreciate  that  adaptation,  have  been  fairly 
proved  by  its  existence  during  sixty  years  —  a  period  which  em- 


THE  TRUE  GREATNESS  OF  OUR  COUNTRY.  21 

braces  its  projection  amid  doubt  and  perplexity,  its  organization 
and  its  consolidation  in  the  midst  of  faction  at  home  and  of  in- 
sidious and  open  hostility  abroad,  and  its  extension  over  double 
its  original  extent  of  territory,  and  over  twice  the  first  number 
of  states,  and  a  seven-fold  increase  of  population.  During  the 
last  fifty  years  of  that  period,  there  has  been  no  armed  and  organ- 
ized sedition,  and  within  the  last  forty  years  the  allegation  of 
treason  has  been  unknown. 

The  only  danger  now  apprehended  is  that  of  a  secession  of  one 
or  more  of  the  states.  Since  the  expansion  of  the  Union,  and  the 
increase  of  the  number  of  its  members,  it  is  apparent  that  even  a 
secession  of  one  or  more  states  would  not  now,  as  it  might  have 
done  formerly,  subvert  the  whole  structure.  It  would  still  exist, 
yielding  protection  and  dispensing  prosperity  to  the  members 
which  should  remain.  The  certainty  of  this  result  could  not  but 
-exert  a  great  influence,  probably  a  controlling  one,  against  a 
decision  to  separate  by  any  discontented  state. 

Administration  can  not  always  be  equally  beneficent  to  all  the 
states,  even  although  it  should  be  always  equally  just,  which  is 
not  to  be  expected.  A  spirit  sufficiently  compromising  has  been 
always  developed  on  the  great  question  of  finance,  and  the  in- 
creasing wealth  and  strength  of  the  various  industrious  classes  of 
the  country  are  diminishing  the  importance  of  that  question. 
In  regard  to  slavery,  the  only  subject  which  gives-  rise  to  appre- 
hension, whatever  is  vital  to  any  state  is  guarded  against  interfe- 
rence by  the  other  states,  and  even  against  federal  interposition. 
There  is  not  now,  and  there  never  has  been,  in  any  quarter,  a  dis- 
position to  trespass  beyond  the  forbidden  limits.  Incidental  ques- 
tions have  been  discussed  with  heat  and  acrimony,  because  lib- 
erty of  debate  was  obstructed  or  denied.  Nevertheless  they  have 
been  decided  witli  various  advantages  to  the  conflicting  parties, 
and  they  have  acquiesced.  It  will  be  so  hereafter,  and  eminently 
so,  because,  debate  being  free,  it  will  be  seen  that  Truth  is  effect- 
ive when  she  employs  the  language  of  persuasion  and  of  moder- 
ation, and  that  Error  owes  all  her  strength  to  physical  resistance. 

The  question  which  will  arise  when  any  emergency  shall  come, 
•will  be,  not  merely  whether  there  is  cause  for  discontent,  but 
whether  it  is  expedient  to  secede.  He  who  gives  that  dangerous 
counsel  will  have  to  show  that  a  miserable  local  traffic,  pent  up 
within  the  borders  of  the  dissenting  state  —  a  timid  and  hesitating 


22  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

adventure  on  the  seas,  exposed  to  piracy  and  insult — uomestic 
sedition,  mocking  and  insulting  authority  that  itself  is  seditious — 
and  perpetual  conflict,  without  naval  force  or  formidable  military 
power,  with  a  great  and  encompassing  nation  —  are  better  than 
an  unchecked  trade  throughout  the  whole  American  territory  — 
freedom  of  the  seas  under  a  flag  that  commands  respect  —  peace, 
harmony,  and  social  order,  guarantied  by  irresistible  power  — 
and  a  common  name  and  common  destiny  with  the  American 
people.  If  it  were  possible  that  any  one  state  could  act  a  part 
so  infatuated,  it  is  certain  that  she  could  draw  no  other  in  to- 
share  her  self-destruction.  Such  alarms  occur  under  circum- 
stances less  ominous  now  than  heretofore.  Assimilation  of  pol- 
icy and  interest  increases ;  the  relative  greatness  of  the  states 
diminishes,  while  that  of  the  nation  is  aggrandized';  local  pride 
declines,  and  nationality  grows  and  flourishes.  Disunion  is  no- 
longer  a  real  terror,  but  is  sinking  into  an  antiquated  superstitionr 
haunting  only  minds  which  morbidly  court  the  enervating  spell. 

We  speak  for  only  the  period  which  lies  within  the  scope  of 
possible  forecast.  What  may  happen  when  cities  and  states  on 
the  Pacific  coast  shall  emulate  in  wealth  and  power  those  now 
ripening  on  the  Atlantic  shores  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  when  population  is  expected  to  crowd  upon  subsist- 
ence, must  be  left  to  uncertain  conjecture.  Nevertheless,  with 
our  improved  modes  of  communication,  regions  may  be  central- 
ized which  once  were  incapable  of  combination  :  the  capacity  of 
the  earth  must  be  adequate  to  the  support  of  all  her  children,, 
when  science  shall  have  instructed  us  fully  how  to  win  her  ut- 
most kindness,  and  when  her  fruits  shall  be  distributed  with  the 
equity  and  justice  which  republican  laws  and  customs  must  bring 
in  the  passage  of  years.  Even  in  that  far-off  period,  then,  we- 
can  discern  no  cause  why  the  motives  of  nationality  should  be 
weaker  than  now.  But,  if  a  separation  shall  then  b.e  necessary,, 
let  us  hope  that  long  habits  of  discipline  and  mutual  affection  may 
enable  the  American  people  to  add  another  and  final  lesson  on 
the  excellence  of  republics — that  of  dividing  without  violence,, 
and  reconstructing  without  the  loss  of  liberty. 

Having  thus  surveyed  the  elements  of  our  country's  greatness,. 
as  the  philosopher  of  England  performed  that  duty  for  his  own 
native  land,  we  may  employ  his  language  in  announcing  the  sub- 
lime result :  — 


THE  TRUE  GREATNESS  OF  OUR  COUNTRY.  23 

"  Video  solem  Orientem  in  Occidente.  *  *  f,  None  of  the 
greatest  monarchies,  which,  in  the  memory  of  the  times,  have 
risen  in  the  habitable  world,  had  so  fair  seeds  and  beginnings  as 
hath  this  our  estate  and  country,  whatever  the  event  shall  be, 
which  must  depend  on  God's  will  and  providence." 

Behold  here,  then,  the  philosophy  of  all  our  studies  on  this 
grateful  theme.  We  see  only  the  rising  of  the  sun  of  empire  — 
only  the  fair  seeds  and  beginnings  of  a  great  nation.  Whether  that 
glowing  orb  shall  attain  to  a  meridian  height,  or  fall  suddenly 
from  its  glorious  sphere  —  whether  those  prolific  seeds  shall  ma- 
ture into  autumnal  ripeness,  or  shall  perish  yielding  no  harvest  — 
depends  on  God's  will  and  providence.  But  God's  will  and  prov- 
idence operate  not  by  casualty  or  caprice,  but  by  fixed  and  re- 
vealed laws.  If  we  would  secure  the  greatness  set  before  us,  we 
must  find  the  way  which  those  laws  indicate,  and  keep  within 
it.  That  way  is  new  and  all  untried.  We  departed  early  —  we 
departed  at  the  beginning — from  the  beaten  track  of  national 
ambition.  Our  lot  was  cast  in  an  age  of  revolution  —  a  revolu- 
tion which  was  to  bring  all  mankind  from  a  state  of  servitude  to 
the  exercise  of  self-government — from  under  the  tyranny  of 
physical  force  to  the  gentle  sway  of  opinion — from  under  sub- 
jection to  matter  to  dominion  over  nature.  It  was  ours  to  lead 
the  way,  to  take  up  the  cross  of  republicanism  and  bear  it  before 
the  nations,  to  fight  its  earliest  battles,  to  enjoy  its  earliest  tri- 
umphs, to  illustrate  its  purifying  and  elevating  virtues,  and  by 
our  courage  and  resolution,  our  moderation  and  our  magnanimity, 
to  cheer  and  sustain  its  future  followers  through  the  baptism  of 
blood  and  the  martyrdom  of  fire.  A  mission  so  noble  and  benevo- 
lent demands  a  generous  and  self-denying  enthusiasm.  Our  great- 
ness is  to  be  won  by  beneficence  without  ambition.  We  are  in  dan- 
ger of  losing  that  holy  zeal.  We  are  surrounded  by  temptations. 
Our  dwellings  become  palaces,  and  our  villages  are  transformed, 
as  if  by  magic,  into  great  cities.  Fugitives  from  famine  and  op- 
pression and  the  sword  crowd  our  shores,  and  proclaim  to  us  that 
we  alone  are  free,  and  great,  and  happy.  Ambition  for  martial 
fame  and  the  lust  of  conquest  have  entered  the  warm,  living, 
youthfal  heart  of  the  republic.  Our  empire  enlarges.  The  cas- 
tles of  enemies  fall  before  our  advancing  armies ;  the  gates  of 
cities  open  to  receive  them.  The  continent  and  its  islands  seem 
ready  to  fall  within  our  grasp,  and  more  than  even  fabulous 


24  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

wealth  opens  under  our  feet.  No  public  virtue  can  withstand, 
none  ever  encountered,  such  seductions  as  these.  Our  own  vir- 
tue and  moderation  must  be  renewed  and  fortified  under  circum- 
stances so  new  and  peculiar. 

Where  shall  we  seek  the  influence  adequate  to  a  task  so  ardu- 
ous as  this  ?  Shall  we  invoke  the  press  and  the  desk  %  They  only 
reflect  the  actual  condition  of  the  public  morals,  and  can  not 
change  them.  Shall  we  resort  to  the  executive  authority  ?  The 
tiirte  has  passed  when  it  could  compose  and  modify  the  political 
elements  around  it.  Shall  we  go  to  the  senate?  Conspiracies,  se- 
ditions, and  corruptions,  in  all  free  countries,  have  begun  there. 
"Where,  then,  shall  we  go,  to  find  an  agency  that  can  uphold  and 
renovate  declining  public  virtue?  Where  should  we  go,  but" 
there,  where  all  republican  virtue  begins  and  must  end  —  where 
the  Promethean  fire  is  ever  to  be  rekindled,  until  it  shall  finally 
expire  —  where  motives  are  formed  and  passions  disciplined?  To 
the  domestic  fireside  and  humble  school,  where  the  American  citi- 
zen is  .train e^t-l. Instruct  him  there,  that  it  will  not  be  enough 
that  he  can  claim  for  his  country  Lacedaemonian  heroism,  or  even 
the  Italian's  boast  — 


talW 

W 


■y  Terra  potens  atque  ubere  gleboe" — 


but  that  more  than  Spartan  valor  and  more  than  Roman  magnifi- 
cence is  required  of  her.  Go,  then,  ye  laborers  in  a  noble  cause, 
gather  the  young  Catholic  and  the  young  Protestant  alike  into 
the  nursery  of  freedom ;  and  teach  them  there  that,  although  re- 
ligion has  many  and  different  shrines  on  which  may  be  made  the 
offering  of  a  "broken  spirit,"  which  God  will  not  despise;  yet 
that  their  country  has  appointed  only  one  altar  and  one  sacrifice 
for  all  her  sons,  and  that  ambition  and  avarice  must  be  slain  on 
that  altar,  for  it  is  consecrated  to  humanity. 


LAFAYETTF* 

OF  TBE 

1SIT1 

LAFAYETTE 


The  Declaration  of  Independence,  at  a  crisis  when  the  public 
mind  had  not  yet  been  prepared  for  it,  and  while  great  solicitude 
prevailed  even  within  the  walls  of  Congress,  as  to  the  ability  of 
the  colonies  to  maintain  it,  was  an  act  not  less  profoundly  wise 
than  it  was  confessedly  bold  and  hazardous.  Before  that  act  the 
organization  of  armies  to  resist  invasion  and  tyranny,  was  a  levy- 
ing of  war  against  the  acknowledged  government  of  the  country, 
and  although  it  was  regarded  as  necessary,  and,  therefore,  justi- 
fiable, it  was,  nevertheless,  treason  and  rebellion.  Under  circum- 
stances so  peculiar,  conscientious  doubts  widely  prevailed  among 
the  people  concerning  the  necessity  and  the  wisdom  of  resistance, 
limited  to  the  simple  object  of  a  redress  of  present  grievances, 
without  looking  to  any  ultimate  security  against  equal  or  greater 
oppression  in  the  future.  The  merely  insurrectionary  government 
could  command  but  little  credit  at  home,  and  found  all  efforts 
unavailing  to  establish  credit,  or  to  procure  aid  abroad.  The 
Declaration  of  Independence  changed  all  this.  It  offered  to  the 
people  indemnity  against  the  punishment  threatened  by  the 
crown,  while  it  guarantied  to  them  for  ever,  not  only  the  rights 
for  which  they  were  then  in  arms,  but  a  new  and  ample  measure 
of  civil  liberty  and  national  prosperity  before  unknown.  The  effect 
at  home  was  electrical.  A  vast  multitude  gathered  around  the 
halls  of  Congress,  and  received  the  Declaration  with  unbounded 
acclamations,  while  the  provincial  assemblies  responded  with  en- 
thusiasm, and  it  was  hailed  with  confidence  and  zeal  equally  by 
the  army  and  the  people.  The  colonies  now  furnished  their  free 
contributions  with  alacrity,  and  volunteers  pressed  forward  in  great 
numbers  to  join  the  Revolutionary  standard  under  Washington. 

Note. — Lafayette  died  May  20,  1834,  and  this  oration  was  delivered  at  Auburn, 
on  the  16th  of  July  following. — Ed. 


£6  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES 

The  disaffected  of  course  recoiled  from  their  own  position,  for 
they  were  now  to  change  relations  with  the  patriots,  and  in  their 
turn  to  be  branded  as  traitors,  and  subjected  to  the  punishment 
of  disloyalty  to  the  constituted  authority  of  the  country.  It  is 
true  that  this  then  bold  proceeding  produced  no  change  in  the  in- 
fatuated counsels  of  the  British  king.  He  was  so  far  from  under- 
standing the  case,  that  he  even  expected  that  the  Declaration 
would  excite  fear  and  terror  among  the  people,  and  be  followed 
by  a  violent  reaction  in  favor  of  his  time-honored,  but  now 
insulted  prerogative. 

It  was  far  otherwise  on  the  continent  of  Europe.  The  time 
was  propitious.  Within  the  previous  half-century  Philosophy 
had  abandoned  her  hopeless  labors  in  the  mystcfies  of  astrology 
and  alchemy,  and  had  begun  to  explore  the  sciences  of  morals 
and  government.  She  had  studied  the  relations  between  the 
government  and  the  governed,  and  had  promulgated  as  theories 
possible  to  be  reduced  to  practical  application,  that  all  govern- 
ment could  rightfully  exist  only  to  promote  the  happiness  of  the 
subject;  that  man  was  capable  of  self-government;  and  that  the 
title  of  government  was  derived  from  his  own  action  and  consent ; 
that  the  right  to  withdraw  that  consent  was  inherent  and  inalien- 
ble ;  that  passive  submission  to  tyranny  was  treason  against  the 
rights  of  mankind ;  and  finally,  that  these  principles  ought  to  be 
reduced  to  practical  action  by  the  voluntary  establishment  of 
republican  institutions.  While  the  oppression  then  experienced 
by  every  nation  made  these  theories  peculiarly  grateful,  the  aris- 
tocratic and  military  strength  of  ancient  monarchies  seemed  to 
forbid  all  hope  of  their  adoption  for  a  very  long  and  indefinite 
period.  The  enthusiasm  which  these  theories  kindled,  neverthe- 
less, was  certainly  not  abated  by  the  circumstance  that,  all  classes 
adopted  with  them,  the  chimera  of  an  absolute  social  equality  as 
an  immediate  fruit  of  the  restitution  of  the  republican  for  existing 
monarchical  institutions.  Nor  was  it  diminished  by  even  that 
other  circumstance,  which  the  world  has  so  long  and  so  justly 
lamented,  and  is  destined  yet  longer  to  deplore,  that  in  too  many 
circles  the  same  enthusiasm  for  liberty  confounding  the  supersti- 
tions of  men.  with  the  great  and  indispensable  doctrines  of  moral 
accountability  of  man  to  his  Creator,  taught  by  Divine  revelation, 
demanded  the  subversion  of  all  Christian  altars,  together  with  the 
overthrow  of  all  European  thrones. 


LAFAYETTE.  2T 

It  was  in  exactly  this  conjuncture  that  the  American  colonies,, 
creaking  the  fetters  of  colonial  servitude,  asserted  the  new  prin- 
ciple of  the  equality  of  man,  and  their  capacity,  and  their  right 
to  subvert,  and  establish,  and  control  governments  at  their  own 
absolute  pleasure,  and  exclusively  for  their  own  welfare. 

What  wonder  was  it,  then,  that  the  political  philosophers  and 
philanthropists,  and  even  the  generous  soldiers  of  Europe,  hailed 
the  new  republic  with  enthusiasm  and  with  exultation?  What 
wonder  that  the  exiled  Pulaski,  and  the  outlawed  Kosciusko,  as- 
well  as  the  ardent  Steuben  and  De  Kalb,  hastened  to  defend  it 
with  their  arms ;  or  that  it  kindled  the  flame  of  sympathy  in  the 
breast  of  Rousseau,  dying  at  Ermeronville,  and  called  forth  new 
efforts  for  the  emancipation  of  mankind,  from  the  genius  of 
Yoltaire,  blazing  its  last  and  most  brilliant  fires  in  the  philosophic 
shades  of  Ferney. 

Paris  hailed  the  great  event  with  an  enthusiasm  that  penetrated 
and  swayed  even  the  despotic  court  of  Louis  XYI.  But  the 
monarch  and  the  court,  equally  hating  and  fearing  the  British 
nation,  were  timid  and  reserved.  The  friends  of  liberty  and  of 
man  gathered  themselves  into  the  saloons  of  Franklin,  at  once  a* 
representative  of  science  and  of  liberty.  At  this  day  we  can 
reproduce  no  full  idea  of  the  veneration  then  inspired  by  Franklin 
on  the  continent  of  Europe.  Whoever  shall  visit  Ferney,  long 
since  rendered  desolate  by  the  death  of  its  extraordinary  tenant, 
will  find  the  chamber  of  Yoltaire  still  embellished  with  a  portrait 
of  the  great  American.  And  among  the  family  pictures  of  the 
house  of  Orleans,  none  is  more  conspicuously  placed,  or  carefully 
preserved,  than  that  in  which  the  artist  has  commemorated  the 
reception  of  Franklin  at  the  Palais  Poyale. 

Among  those  who  presented  themselves  every  day  in  the 
thronged  apartments  of  the  American  minister,  was  one  tall  in 
stature,  fair  in  complexion,  and  of  elastic  step,  not  yet  twenty 
years  old,  distinguished  by  rank  and  connections  of  the  highest 
class,  and  by  wealth  almost  unlimited.  He  had  become  a  dis- 
ciple, and  he  soon  learned  to  love  and  venerate,  not  only  Franklin 
whom  he  saw,  but  Washington  whom  he  had  not  seen,  and  who 
then  was  maintaining  the  cause  of  the  new  republic  in  the  field 
with  unsurpassed  moral  grandeur.  Lafayette  burned  to  aid  the 
cause  of  America,  and  to  share  the  fortunes  and  the  fame  of 
Washington.     He  tendered  his  service  to  Franklin,  and  it  was 


28  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

accepted  at  a  moment  when  hopes  for  the  success  of  the  contest 
were  high  and  enthusiasm  was  universal. 

But  he  had  scarcely  began  his  preparation  for  departure  when 
a  change  came  over  the  prospects  of  the  American  cause.  The 
British  government  had  sent  new  military  and  naval  forces  so 
vast,  that  the  reduction  of  the  insurgents  was  deemed  inevitable. 

The  confidence  of  success  which  the  colonies  had  derived  from 
the  expulsion  of  the  invaders  from  Boston,  was  lost  now  in  the 
double  disaster  of  the  surrender  of  New  York,  and  the  retreat  of 
Washington  with  his  exhausted  and  demoralized  army  through 
the  Jerseys.  The  court  of  Versailles  became  deaf  to  the  entrea- 
ties of  the  American  ministers,  and  the  votaries  of  liberty  ceased 
to  crowd  their  saloons.  One  only  among  them  all  remained 
constant,  and  that  was  the  young  nobleman  to  whom,  while 
America  offered  only  dangers,  France  offered,  together  with 
safety,  only  less  than  regal  honors.  He  still  persisted  in  the 
tender  of  his  services ;  but  the  American  ministers,  now  without 
credit  at  home  or  in  Europe,  without  hope  from  the  French  court, 
and  desponding  over  the  sad  prospects  of  the  cause,  pitied  the 
young  enthusiast,  and  with  a  just  and  noble  delicacy,  attempted  to 
dissuade  him  from  his  purpose.  He  persisted,  and  so  they  were 
"at  last  compelled  to  confess  that  the  American  army  was  reduced 
so  low  that  they  could  not  guaranty  him  the  command  of  a 
brigade  as  they  had  before  stipulated.  "  I  will  go,  then,  as  a 
volunteer,"  was  his  prompt  reply.  The  ministers,  pushed  to  still 
more  humiliating  confession,  now  declared  that  they  had  not 
funds  enough  to  procure  and  equip  a  vessel  to  convey  him  to 
America,  which  was  necessary,  since  his  departure  had  been 
interdicted  by  the  king.  Then  said  he,  "I  will  go  without. 
Hitherto  I  have  done  no  more  than  wish  success  to  your  cause, 
I  go  now  to  serve  it.  The  more  it  has  fallen  in  public  favor,  the 
greater  will  be  the  benefit  of  my  departure  to  sustain  it.  I  will 
buy  the  vessel,  and  will  equip  it  at  my  own  expense." 

He  executed  this  noble  purpose  with  secrecy  and  caution,  and 
happily,  avoiding  the  police  of  France,  and  the  cruisers  of 
England,  landed  at  Charleston  in  the  spring  of  1777.  The  court 
and  all  Paris  were  amazed  by  the  rash  and  visionary  enthusiasm 
manifested  by  the  young  nobleman,  in  leaving  his  newly-married 
wife  and  all  the  pleasures  and  honors  of  the  French  capital,  to 
embark,  at  such  a  time,  in  a  cause  so  distant  and  so  desperate. 


LAFAYETTE.  2£ 

Had  he  resigned  nothing  but  the  dignified  ease  and  repose  of  his 
ancestral  home  at  La  Grange,  and  the  pleasures  of  society  in  the 
fashionable  circles  of  the  metropolis,  and  had  he  resigned  these 
to  join  a  standard  then  victorious,  and  so  to  share  an  assured 
triumph,  yet  even  then,  where  in  our  own  land,  or  in  any  other, 
could  we  have  found  a  parallel  to  an  action  so  noble  and  so 
disinterested?  We  honor  our  Washington,  our  Adamses,  our 
Hancock,  our  Franklin,  our  Carroll,  our  Greene,  our  Warren,  and 
our  Putnam,  and  we  honor  them  justly.  But  this,  nevertheless,, 
was  their  own  land,  not  a  foreign  one ;  the  cause  was  their  own, 
not  a  foreign  one.  Had  they  dared  or  done  less,  what  claim 
could  they  have  had  to  our  remembrance,  and  had  they  with- 
held their  support  from  that  cause,  should  we  not  now  have  even 
cursed  their  memories  ?  Let  the  infamy  which  still  to  the  third 
generation  hangs  over  the  names  of  the  misguided  loyalists  of  the 
Revolution  answer. 

There  were  indeed  other  and  heroic  volunteers  from  European 
countries,  but  they  were  either  exiles  who  had  no  homes,  or  they 
were  soldiers  by  profession,  who  followed  the  sword  wherever 
a  harvest  was  to  be  reaped  with  it.  JEneas  left  Troy  to  plant 
another  state,  but  not  until  his  native  city  was  in  ashes ;  and 
Byron  went  to  the  aid  of  Greece  only  when  he  needed  a  refuge 
from  domestic  disappointments,  and  social  disgust.  Lafayette's- 
first  act  in  America  gave  new  evidence  of  disinterestedness  and 
magnanimity.  He  found  the  small  patriot  army  rent  asunder  by 
jealous  feuds  growing  out  of  ambition  for  preferment.  What 
revolution,  however  holy,  has  not  suffered  by  such  evils.  How 
many  a  revolution  has  been  lost  by  them.  Schuyler,  the  brave, 
the  high-spirited,  and  wise,  now  the  victim  of  an  intrigue,  was 
hesitating  Avhether  to  submit  to  a  privation  of  rank  justly  due 
him,  or  to  resign.  Putnam's  recent  promotion  produced  bitter 
complaints ;  and  Gates  was  laboring  night  and  day,  aided  by  a 
powerful  faction,  to  displace  Washington  from,  the  chief  command. 
The  correspondence  of  the  father  of  his  country,  now  first  pub- 
lished, reveals  the  fact  that  the  compensation  attached  to  military 
rank  was  by  no  means  an  unimportant  object  of  the  universal 
rage  for  perfetment,  which  then  threatened  to  break  up  the  army. 
Lafayette  set  a  noble  example  to  the  republican  chiefs.  He 
declined  the  tender  of  a  commission  as  major-general  with  its 
emoluments ;  and  stipulated,  on  the  contrary,  for  leave  to  serve 


20  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

without  reward,  and  even  without  a  command,  until  he  should 
have  made  a  title  to  it  by  actual  achievements.  He  won  his 
commission  by  the  blood  he  gave  to  his  adopted  country  in  the 
battle  of  the  Brandy  wine,  by  rallying  the  troops  in  the  retreat  at 
Chester  Bridge,  and  by  his  brave  resistance  and  capture,  with 
the  aid  of  militia-men,  of  a  superior  force  of  British  and  Hessian 
regulars ;  and  thus  without  exciting  murmurs  among  his  com- 
patriots, and  with  the  thanks  of  Congress,  he  rose  to  the  command 
of  a  division  in  the  army  of  the  United  States.  Lavish  of  gold 
.as  he  had  already  shown  that  he  was  lavish  of  blood,  he  clothed 
and  equipped  these  troops,  numbering  two  thousand,  at  his  own 
•expense,  and  they  soon  became,  under  his  exact  but  affectionate 
discipline,  the  favorite  corps  of  the  whole  army. 

And  now  an  hour  of  trial  arrived.  He  was  as  yet  only  twenty- 
one  years  old,  but  his  manly  bravery,  his  proved  valor,  his 
generous  enthusiasm,  and  his  precocious  prudence,  had  secured 
to  him  the  esteem  and  confidence,  not  only  of  Washington,  but 
of  the  army  and  of  the  country  also.  It  seems  now  as  if  it  must 
have  happened  through  a  propitious  fortune,  that  the  duty 
which  fell  to  each  of  the  Kevolutionary  generals,  was  the  very  one 
best  fitted  to  his  own  peculiar  talent  and  temper.  To  Lafayette, 
ardent,  generous,  and  fascinating,  oftenest  fell  the  task  of  rallying 
discomfited  and  disheartened  detachments.  To  the  intrepid  and 
impetuous  Gates  was  reserved  the  battle  with  the  perfect  legions 
of  Burgoyne,  rendered  desperate  by  the  exposure  of  their  positior 
at  Saratoga.  While  it  devolved  upon  Washington  alone  to  per- 
form the  more  painful  and  less  brilliant  service  of  delay,  of  sieges, 
and  of  long  and  wearisome  retreats.  Cotemporaries  judge  the 
hero  always  by  the  brilliancy  and  success  of  his  achievements,  and 
so  it  had  happened  that  Washington,  even  while  lying  at  Charles- 
ton, had  not  only  suffered  reproaches  for  imbecility,  but  had  also 
incurred  suspicion  of  cowardice.  Nevertheless,  sustained  by  those 
who  had  sufficient  greatness  to  discover  his  wonderful  sagacity 
and  prudence,  and  sufficient  magnanimity  to  confess  them,  Wash- 
ington had  stood  unshaken  in  his  high  place  until  the  winter  of 
1778.  But  a  new  and  bold  intrigue  was  now  plotted  in  the  army 
and  in  Congress,  and  this  intrigue  aimed  at  notning  less  than 
deposing  the  commander-in-chief,  through  the  popularity  of 
of  the  young  and  favorite  French  general.  The  design  flourished 
for  a  time.     A  new  campaign  in  the  north  was  projected  upon  a 


LAFAYETTE.  31 

scale  so  grand  and  so  well  filled  up  with  the  necessary  forces 
and  supplies,  as  was  thought  to  put  success  beyond  casualty,  and 
Lafayette  was  invested  with  the  command  of  the  expedition, 
independently  of  Washington,  and  responsible  to  Congress  alone. 
Lafayette  declined  to  accept  it  on  terms  so  tempting,  yet  so 
unwise ;  and  now,  when  we  look  back  at  the  transaction,  free 
from  the  influences  of  the  passions  and  jealousies  of  that  trying 
period,  it  seems  not  too  much  to  say  of  Lafayette,  that  by  this 
crowning  act  of  magnanimity,  he  saved  not  only  the  army  but 
the  American  Revolution. 

Fortunately  for  that  cause,  Lafayette  had  the  docility  to  bo 
convinced  by  Washington  that,  the  projected  capture  of  Canada, 
even  with  such  a  force  was  impossible,  and  the  enterprise  was 
abandoned. 

I  may  not  dwell  here  on  the  gallant  conduct  and  great  services 
of  Lafayette  in  the  campaign  of  1778,  for  his  highest  claims  to 
our  homage  rest  on  merits  more  rare  than  even  personal  bravery 
and  high  military  conduct.  The  fame  of  the  young  general  had 
now  reached  his  native  land.  France  had  enough  of  virtue  to 
exult  in  the  glory  which  her  youthful  refugee  had  won  in  the 
cause  of  freedom.  That  pride  co-operating  with  the  enthusiasm 
awakened  there  by  the  announcement  of  the  capture  of  Burgoyne, 
enabled  the  American  commissioners  at  the  court  of  Yersailles 
to  obtain  the  long  withheld  acknowledgment  of  the  indepen- 
dence of  the  new  republic,  together  with  the  often  promised,  but 
long  deferred  aid  of  a  squadron,  which  was  now  despatched  under 
the  command  of  D'Estaing.  In  acknowledgment  of  the  influence 
of  Lafayette  in  bringing  about  this  indispensable  and  effective 
interposition  by  the  French  king,  the  American  ministers,  im- 
mediately after  they  had  been  for  the  first  time  presented  at 
court,  proceeded  through  the  streets  of  Paris,  attended  by  all 
their  countrymen  then  in  that  capital,  to  the  house  of  Lafayette, 
and  paid  their  salutations  to  the  youthful  marchioness,  whose 
hours  were  divided  between  sad  apprehensions  for  his  safety,  and 
irrepressible  delight  in  the  praises  everywhere  bestowed  upon  her 
chivalrous  lord.  It  was  a  delicate  and  yet  generous  confession  of 
the  debt  of  the  country  to  its  noble  and  heroic  benefactor. 

After  the  memorable  battles  of  Valley  Forge  and  Monmouth 
Lafayette  obtained  permission  to  revisit  France.  He  was  re- 
ceived there  with  acclamations  as  the  first  man  of  the  age. 


32  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

"Lafayette,"  said  the  poet,  u a  vingt  aus  d'un  monde  etait 
VappuiP  But  the  soul  of  the  youthful  hero  was  above  the  reach 
of  flattery.  On  his  arrival  Dr.  Franklin  met  him  at  Havre,  and 
in  the  name  of  Congress,  presented  to  him  a  sword.  Lafayette 
received  it  with  this  declaration,  as  honorable  to  himself  as  it 
was  delicate  and  just  to  Washington:  "Some  of  the  devices 
upon  the  weapon  are  too  flattering  compliments  for  those  slight 
services  which,  in  concert  with  fellow-soldiers,  I  have  had  the 
good  fortune  to  render,  under  the  orders  of  the  Godlike  Ameri- 
can." True  to  his  adopted  country,  Lafayette  resisted  all  the 
blandishments  of  Parisian  society,  and  having  used  his  popularity 
and  the  influence  it  gave  him  in  her  behalf  with  good  effect,  he 
re-embarked  with  an  additional  fleet,  a  large  loan,  and  a  new 
military  force.  You  all  know  that,  on  his  arrival  he  quieted  the 
unhappy  controversies  still  existing  among  the  officers  of  the 
army,  and  that,  having  narrowly  escaped  from  being  betrayed 
into  the  hands  of  the  British  general  by  the  treason  of  Arnold, 
he  executed  an  important  and  responsible  part  in  the  great 
southern  campaign  with  equal  skill  and  courage,  and  so  had  the 
good  fortune  to  share  in  the  laurels  won  at  Yorktown,  the  closing 
scene  of  the  war  of  independence. 

If  the  career  of  the  hero  had  ended  there  what  deficiency  would 
there  have  been  for  his  eulogist  to  lament,  what  trait  of  love, 
valor,  friendship,  constancy,  or  magnanimity,  left  undisclosed  ? 

The  struggle  for  freedom  and  for  republicanism  on  this  side  of 
the  Atlantic  had  now  closed.  Lafayette  stood  second  to  Wash- 
ington in  the  affections  of  the  American  people,  and  in  the 
applauses  of  the  friends  of  liberty  throughout  the  world.  Cer- 
tainly whatever  honors  that  people  could  have  conferred  on  any 
one,  would  have  soon  been  sure  to  wait  on  him.  Let  those  who 
think  that  preferment,  power,  and  applause,  are  always  the 
chief  objects  of  human  ambition,  look  now  at  this  illustrious  and 
yet  youthful  personage,  cheerfully  resigning  his  command,  and 
without  one  murmur  of  regret  for  the  honors  laid  down,  or  one 
glance  toward  the  honors  gathering  before  him,  taking  affec- 
tionate leave  of  his  companions  in  arms,  and  their  great  chief, 
and  returning  to  his  native  land,  to  resume  there  the  duties  he 
owed  as  a  subject  and  member  of  the  state  in  France. 

An  earnest  invitation  from  Washington  and  his  associates, 
brought  him  back  a  visiter  to  our  shores  in  1784,  and  he  was 


LAFAYETTE.  33 

received  here  with  an  enthusiasm  surpassed  in  no  case  of  national 
hospitality,  except  his  own  on  his  more  recent  visit  to  the  United 
States.  Our  highest  expectations  of  the  destiny  of  our  country, 
do  not  surpass  in  enthusiasm  the  wishes  and  hopes  which  his 
experience  and  observation  in  America  had  kindled  in  him.  In 
taking  leave  of  Congress  to  return  once  more  to  France  he  thus 
expressed  those  hopes.  "  May  this  great  temple  which  we  have 
just  erected  to  liberty,  always  be  an  instruction  to  oppressors,  an 
example  to  the  oppressed,  a  refuge  for  the  rights  of  the  human 
race,  and  an  object  of  delight  to  the  manes  of  its  founders." 

Lafayette  early  saw  the  signs  of  the  storm  which,  at  the  close 
of  the  last  century  gathered  over  France  and  Europe.  Instead 
of  resigning  himself  to  repose  upon  the  laurels  he  had  already 
won,  he  immediately  visited  the  camps  of  the  German  princes, 
to  improve  himself  in  the  science  of  arms,  and  so  to  qualify  him- 
self still  better  for  new  combats  in  the  cause  freedom. 

I  must  be  very  brief  upon  the  part  which  he  bore  in  that  great 
Revolution  in  which  France,  after  holding  the  whole  world,  for 
a  short  period,  in  deep  suspense  for  her  safety,  at  last  brought  it 
into  a  death  struggle  for  its  own.  Mankind  now  everywhere 
accord  to  him  this  distinction  among  the  actors  of  that  great 
drama,  viz.:  that  he  was  always  intrepid  and  earnest  in  main- 
taining the  cause  of  popular  liberty,  deliberate  and  prudent  in 
his  measures,  moderate  and  humane  in  mitigating  the  calamities 
and  sufferings  of  the  most  fearful  civil  wrar  the  world  has  ever 
witnessed,  and  at  all  times,  on  all  occasions,  amid  all  trials,  and 
all  temptations,  unswerving,  consistent,  and  disinterested. 

Lafayette,  although  a  republican,  seems  to  have  been  the  first 
of  the  patriots  who  had  the  sagacity  to  discover  that  the  French 
people  were  not  yet  prepared  to  sustain  a  purely  democratic 
government.  Acting  on  this  conviction,  in  1789,  no  less  than 
in  1830,  he  averred  that  for  France,  the  best  form  of  government 
was  a  limited  monarchy  surrounded  by  republican  institutions. 
So  he  opposed  equally  the  restoration  of  despotic  power  to  the 
throne,  and  the  anarchical  theories  of  the  Jacobins.  At  the  risk 
of  rank,  fortune,  and  life,  he  was  the  first  in  the  assembly  of 
notables  to  demand  the  suppression  of  Lettres  de  cachet,  and  of 
state  prisons.  When  these  concessions  were  refused,  he  demanded 
the  convocation  of  a  national  assembly.  "  What,"  said  the  Count 
d'Artois,  afterward  Charles  X.  in  a  voice  of  arrogant  menace 

Yol.  III.— 3 


34:  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

(for  the  hall  was  surrounded  by  the  royal  troops),  "  do  you  mo  re 
for  the  states-general  ?" — "  Yes4"  replied  Lafayette,  coolly,  "  and 
for  more  than  that."  The  vacillating  court  soon  yielded  to  this 
demand.  Lafayette  was  of  course  a  member  of  the  states-general, 
and  he  commenced  his  labors  in  that  extraordinary  revolutionary 
body,  by  moving  a  resolution  that  the  national  assembly  was  not 
free,  and,  therefore,  that  the  king  should  be  required,  at  once,  to 
withdraw  the  army  from  Versailles. 

The  declaration  of  the  rights  of  the  French  people,  adopted  by 
the  assembly,  embodied  the  principles  which  Lafayette  had  car- 
ried with  him  from  America. 

" Nature,"  said  that  memorable  instrument,  "has  made  men  free  and  equal.  The 
distinctions  necessary  for  social  order,  are  founded  on  general  utility  alone. 

"Every  man  is  born  with  rights  inalienable  and  imperscriptible.  Such  are  the  liberty 
of  all  his  opinions,  the  uncontrolled  disposal  of  his  person,  his  industry,  and  all  his  facul- 
ties, the  communication  of  all  his  thoughts  by  all  possible  means,  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness, and  the  resistance  of  oppression. 

"The  exercise  of  natural  rights  has  no  limits,  but  such  as  will  insure  the  enjoyment 
of  the  same  rights  to  other  members  of  society. 

"No  man  can  be  subject  to  any  laws,  excepting  those  which  have  received  his  own 
assent,  or  that  of  his  representatives,  and  which  are  promulgated  beforehand,  and 
executed  in  due  course,  by  competent  authority. 

"The  principle  of  all  sovereignty  dwells  in  the  nation.  No  body  of  men,  no  indi- 
vidual can  possess  authority  that  does  not  expressly  emanate  from  it. 

"The  sole  object  of  government  is  the  general  welfare.  This  interest  requires  that 
the  legislative,  executive,  and  judicial  powers  shall  be  distinct  and  denned,  and 
that  their  organization  shall  secure  the  free  representation  of  the  citizens,  the  respon- 
sibility of  the  agents,  and  the  impartiality  of  the  judgea 

"The  laws  ought  to  be  clear,  precise,  and  uniform,  for  all  citizens. 

"The  subsidies  ought  to  be  obtained  by  free  consent,  and  fairly  imposed: 

"And  as  the  introduction  of  abuses,  and  the  rights  of  succeeding  generations  make 
the  occasional  revision  of  every  human  establishment  necessary,  it  must  be  allowed  to 
the  nation  to  have,  in  certain  cases,  an  extraordinary  convocation  of  deputies,  whose 
sole  object  shall  be  the  examination  and  correction,  if  necessary,  of  the  vices  of  the 
constitution. 

In  these  few  sentences  were  condensed  the  elements  of  the 
American  constitution. 

Raised  to  the  dangerous  eminence  of  vice-president  of  the 
national  assembly,  Lafayette,  on  two  successive  days,  procured  the 
adoption  of  decrees  essential  to  the  establishment  of  Freedom 
in  France ;  one  for  the  destruction  of  the  Bastile,  and  another 
declaring  the  ministers  of  the  crown  responsible  to  the  people. 

He  was  the  projector  of  the  militia-system,  or  national  guard. 
He  formed  a  cockade  for  this  civic  force,  in  which  he  combined 
the  white  of  the  lily  of  France,  with  the  blue  and  red  of  the  en- 
sign of  the  city." — "  See,"  said  he,  "  I  bring  you  a  symbol  which 
3 hall  make  the  tour  of  the  world,  and  an  institution  which  shall 


LAFAYETTE.  35 

change  the  system  of  European  political  tactics,  and  reduce  all 
absolute  governments  to  the  alternative  of  being  beaten  if  they 
do  not  imitate,  or  of  being  overthrown  if  they  dare  to  imitate  it." 

On  the  other  hand,  Lafayette  struggled  with  equal  constancy 
to  prevent  the  inarch  of  anarchy.  As  you  all  recollect,  on  that 
memorable  5th  of  October,  1789,  he  held  under  check  and  con- 
straint for  eight  hours  the  populace  of  Paris,  who,  to  the  number 
of  ten  thousand,  of  both  sexes,  thronged  the  road  to  the  royal 
residence,  crying — "To  Versailles!  Down  with  the  nation! 
"We  want  bread !  Away  with  the  queen !  away  with  the  king  I" 
Failing  to  turn  them  back,  he  hurried  forward  and  took  his  post 
in  the  palace ;  and,  in  that  dreadful  night  which  followed,  rescued 
and  saved  the  unhappy  monarchs.  His  presence  of  mind  and 
his  great  influence  over  the  people  were  illustrated  in  the  man- 
ner in  which  he  accomplished  that  design. 

At  the  moment  when  the  ruffians  who  had  effected  an  entrance 
were  ready  to  unbar  the  gates  and  to  admit  the  infuriate  mob, 
who  pressed  with  savage  ferocity  to  the  door  of  the  royal  cham- 
ber, Lafayette  prevailed  on  the  queen  to  overcome  her  terrors 
and  present  herself  on  the  balcony,  under  the  gray  twilight  of  the 
morning.  The  air  resounded  with  confused  and  horrible  impre- 
cations. Lafayette  lifted  the  queen's  hand  and  kissed  it.  The 
populace,  overcome  by  this  act  of  gallantry,  shouted  —  "  Vive  la 
reine /" —  "Vive  Lafayette!"  He  turned  and  threw  his  arms 
over  the  manly  shoulders  of  one  of  the  royal  body-guard.  The 
populace  shouted,  "Vive  la  reine!"  —  "Vivent  les  gardes  du 
corps  /" 

The  constitution  of  France  having  been  so  amended  as  to  guar- 
anty the  great  principles  of  civil  liberty  while  it  should  last,  La- 
fayette spent  the  next  two  years  in  re-establishing  and  maintain- 
ing order  in  the  newly-established  state.  It  was  then  that  he 
gave  to  the  national  guard  that  motto  which  expressed  his  own 
great  political  principles :  "  Liberte  et  ordre  publique."  These 
words  were  lost  in  the  social  chaos  which  soon  succeeded,  but 
on  the  restoration  of  Lafayette's  system  forty  years  afterward 
they  also  were  restored ;  and  now  whosoever  visits  France  will 
find  them  inscribed  on  the  gates  of  every  city  and  on  the  walls 
of  every  edifice  of  the  government. 

Lafayette  was  practically  as  well  as  in  theory  a  republican. 
He  voted  for  removing  the  restraints  upon  liberty  of  conscience, 


36  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

and  for  abolishing  the  titles  of  nobility,  and  he  alone  of  all  the 
aristocracy  who  made  that  sacrifice  consistently  refused  after- 
ward to  resume  the  rank  thus  resigned.  While  others  gladly  re- 
claimed the  dignities  renounced,  and  even  hundreds  of  the  re- 
publicans who  had  exacted  this  renunciation  assumed  the  honors 
conferred  by  Napoleon  under  the  empire,  Lafayette  ever  after- 
ward until  his  death  bore  only  the  name  of  general,  and  left  no 
title  to  his  successors. 

Nevertheless,  virtue,  fidelity,  and  consistency,  could  not  save 
Lafayette  from  sharing  in  the  calamities  which  the  surges  of  rev- 
olution brought  upon  his  country.  The  mother  of  Madame  La- 
fayette and  her  sister  expiated  his  offences  against  the  Girondist 
faction  on  the  scaffold,  and  he  was  obliged  to  seek  safety  by  flight 
from  France.  Attended  by  two  faithful  friends,  he  crossed  the 
frontier,  and,  as  you  all  remember,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Prussian  police.  He  was  confined  in  chains  in  the  dungeon  at 
Olmiitz,  ignorant  of  the  condition  or  even  of  the  safety  of  his- 
family,  although  the  prison-doors  would  have  opened  at  any  mo- 
ment when  he  should  have  signed  a  recantation  of  his  republican 
opinions.  The  allied  cabinets  of  Prussia  and  Austria  kept  secret  the 
place  and  as  far  as  possible  even  the  fact  of  his  confinement,  and 
gave  no  satisfaction  to  the  inquiries  made  to  ascertain  whether 
he  still  lived. 

George  Washington  Lafayette  was  despatched  by  his  mother  to 
obtain  the  advice  and  if  possible  the  aid  of  Washington.  Wash- 
ington fruitlessly  interposed  by  addressing  a  letter  written  with  his 
own  hand  to  the  enjperor  of  Austria.  The  amiable  and  constant 
Josephine  moved  the  new  consular  government  of  France  also 
to  intervene  in  his  behalf;  and  his  confinement  was  justly  and 
loudly  denounced  in  the  British  parliament,  and  by  the  press, 
wherever  free,  throughout  Christendom,  as  an  outrage  on  the 
rights  of  man  and  the  laws  of  nations.  These  remonstrances, 
after  the  lapse  of  two  years,  produced  an  acknowledgment  of  the 
fact  of  Lafayette's  imprisonment,  and  a  relaxation  of  its  rigors. 
He  was  allowed  exercise  and  the  society  of  his  family.  But  the 
Austrian  government  now  practised  a  new  refinement  of  trial. 
Relying  upon  the  persuasions  of  his  family  toward  a  compliance, 
they  offered  him  his  freedom  upon  the  condition  that  he  would 
promise  not  again  to  enter  the  kingdom  of  Prussia.  Lafayette 
replied  that,  while  he  would  freely  say  he  had  no  present  inten- 


LAFAYETTE.  \  37 

tion  to  revisit  Prussia,  jet  he  was  a  French  general  and  an  Amer- 
ican citizen,  and  he  would  make  no  promise  that  would  compro- 
mise his  future  conduct  in  either  of  those  relations. 

A  romantic  scheme  adopted  by  Huger  and  Bohlman,  two  of 
our  countrymen,  having  failed  to  effect  his  release  by  stratagem, 
Napoleon,  who  had  now  risen  to  a  height  that  inspired  respect 
if  not  terror,  obtained  the  liberation  of  the  only  man  in  France 
whom  he  could  not  corrupt.  But  the  consul,  while  he  thus  yield- 
ed to  the  importunities  of  the  friends  of  justice  and  of  liberty,  did 
not  omit  to  censure  Lafayette's  stubborn  impracticability  in  refu- 
sing to  accept  the  conditions  which  had  been  tendered  by  the 
Austrian  authorities. 

Lafayette  returned  to  France.  But  it  was  struggling,  hopeful 
France  no  more.  The  frenzied  delirium  of  the  republic  was  past. 
Danton,  Marat,  and  Robespierre,  had  perished  on  the  same  scaf- 
fold which,  during  Lafayette's  absence,  had  drunk  the  blood  of 
Louis  and  Marie  Antoinette.  The  foundations  of  the  empire 
were  already  laid  on  the  mingled  and  confused  ruins  of  the  mon- 
archy and  the  republic.  Napoleon  knew  both  the  gratitude  and 
the  popularity  of  Lafayette,  and  offered  him  a  seat  in  the  senate. 
Lafayette  declined  it,  and  solicited  leave  to  resign  his  commission 
in  the  army.  When  all  France  beside  himself,  intoxicated  with 
Napoleon's  brilliant  military  successes,  voted  to  constitute  him  first 
■consul  for  life,  Lafayette  dissented,  declaring :  "  I  can  not  vote  for 
«uch  a  magistracy  until  liberty  has  been  sufficiently  guarantied. 
When  that  shall  have  been  done,  then  I  will  vote  for  Napoleon 
Bonaparte."  He  addressed  a  letter  to  the  first  consul  himself  on 
that  occasion,  and,  after  appealing  to  the  triumphant  general  to 
establish  a  free  constitution  for  France,  he  closed  with  these  frank 
and  manly  words :  "  I  have  no  other  than  patriotic  and  personal 
motives  in  wishing  for  you,  as  the  climax  of  your  glory,  a  perma- 
nent magistrative  post.  But  it  is  in  harmony  with  my  principles, 
my  engagements,  the  actions  of  all  my  life,  to  ascertain, before  I 
vote, that  liberty  is  established  on  foundations  worthy  of  France 
and  of  you.  1  hope,  general,  that  you  will  now  admit,  as  you 
haye  already  had  occasion  to  do  before,  that  to  firmness  in  adhe- 
ring to  my  political  opinions  are  joined  sincere  wishes  for  your 
welfare,  and  a  profound  sense  of  my  obligations  to  you." 

The  soul  of  Napoleon  had  no  chord  that  could  be  touched  by 
audi  generosity  as  this,  and  so  the  letter  of  Lafayette  closed  the 


38  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

communication  between  these  two  eminent  men,  the  representa- 
tives of  the  antagonist  principles  of  France  during  nearly  half  a 
century. 

What  honors,  what  power,  did  not  Lafayette  thus  forego !  Du- 
ring a  dozen  years  Napoleon  subverted  and  established  thrones, 
and  bestowed  fortunes  and  states  on  those  who  propitiated  him 
with  a  lavish  hand.  But  Lafayette's  constancy  never  failed.  He 
remained  quiet  and  content  at  La  Grange,  engaged  in  books,  in 
agriculture,  and  in  the  companionship  of  true  men. 

When»the  majestic  structure  of  empire  that  Napoleon  had  built 
crumbled  in  its  shock  against  the  great  empire  of  the  north,  and 
the  miscalled  deliverers  of  Europe  restored  the  ancient  monarchy 
under  Louis  XYIIL,  all  who  had  been  neglected  by  Bonaparte, 
and  even  most  of  those  who  had  basked  in  his  favor,  and  been 
enriched  or  ennobled  by  his  patronage,  pressed  to  the  throne  of 
the  Bourbon  with  congratulations.  I  am  sure  I  need  not  say  that 
Lafayette  was  not  among  them  nor  of  them. 

When,  again,  Napoleon  escaped  from  Elba,  and  enacted  that 
delirious  and  final  act,  the  restoration  of  the  empire,  and  men 
who  had  forsworn  him  under  the  "  restoration"  again  gave  up 
their  allegiance  to  the  "man  of  destiny,"  Lafayette  nevertheless 
remained  at  La  Grange,  indifferent  between  the  kingdom  and  the 
empire — for  the  time  for  France  to  acknowledge  and  accept  his 
aid  had  not  yet  come. 

That  time  came  at  last,  when  Napoleon  having  already  lost  in  his 
last  battle,  on  the  fatal  plain  of  Waterloo,  the  power  to  save  the 
great  country  that  had  idolized  him,  demanded  new  levies  to  resist 
the  allied  powers,  then  on  their  triumphant  march  to  the  capital. 
Lafayette  reappeared  in  the  tribune  :  "  When,"  said  he,  "  for  the 
first  time  after  many  years,  I  now  raise  a  voice  which  the  old 
friends  of  liberty  may  yet  be  able  to  recognise,  I  find  myself  obliged 
to  speak  of  the  dangers  of  our  country,  which  you  alone  are  able 
to  save.  The  moment  has  come  for  rallying  around  the  old  tricol- 
ored  standard  of  1789  —  that  of  liberty,  equality,  and  public  or- 
der." Lafayette  declared  that  enough  of  treasure  had  been  spent 
and  enough  of  blood  had  been  shed  to  prove  the  fidelity  of  France 
to  the  emperor.  The  chamber  declared  itself  permanent,  and 
enacted  that  any  attempt  to  dissolve  it  would  be  high-treason, 
and  punished  as  such.  In  a  meeting  held  with  closed  doors,  in 
the  night  after  adopting  this  decree,  Lucien,  the  most  insidious 


LAFAYETTE.  39 

and  eloquent  of  his  august  brother's  advocates,  addressed  the  cham- 
ber, and  was  evidently  sure  of  success.  Lafayette  rose,  and,  with- 
out waiting  to  ascend  the  tribune,  replied  in  a  voice  marked  by 
deep  emotion  :  "  What  has  just  been  asserted  is  a  calumny.  Who 
dare  accuse  Frenchmen  of  inconstancy  toward  Napoleon?  Did 
they  not  follow  him  through  the  sands  of  Egypt  and  over  tlie 
deserts  of  Russia?  Have  they  not  stood  by  him  on  fifty  battle- 
fields in  disaster  as  well  as  in  victory?  and  is  it  not  for  having 
followed  him  so  faithfully  and  so  long,  that  they  have  to  mourn 
the  millions  of  brethren  perished  ?"  It  is  said  that  even  Lucien 
himself,  penetrated  with  the  justice  of  this  noble  reply,  bowed 
respectfully  to  the  venerable  speaker,  and  was  silent. 

Lafayette  exerted  every  effort  to  re-establish  popular  institu- 
tions around  the  now  restored  throne  of  the  Bourbons,  but  he 
was  defeated  by  the  coalition  of  the  friends  of  the  empire  with 
the  friends  of  the  monarchy. 

Lafayette  was  among  the  deputies  sent  by  the  newly-organized 
government  to  treat  with  the  allied  sovereigns,  on  the  terms  of 
the  capitulation  of  France.  After  long  and  fruitless  consultation, 
the  English  embassador  impatiently  demanded  of  Lafayette 
whether  he  would  accept  of  peace  on  condition  of  delivering  up 
Napoleon  to  the  allies.  "  I  am  surprised,"  replied  the  French- 
man, "that  in  submitting  to  us  so  odious  a  proposition,  you 
should  have  addressed  yourself  to  one  of  the  prisoners  of  Olmutz." 

When  the  negotiations  were  near  their  conclusion,  as  the 
government  of  Louis  XVIII.  was  again  coming  in,  he  wrote  to 
the  Count  Capo  d'Istria,  in  behalf  of  Hortense,  the  daughter  of 
Josephine.  "  Have  you  had  the  kindness  to  speak  in  behalf  of 
an  unfortunate  woman  whose  mother  was  so  generous  to  me  in 
my  captivity,  that  I  can  never  forget  her,  even  though  they 
should  call  me  a  Bonapartist  ?" 

Resigning  France  as  was  inevitable  to  the  reign  of  the  Bour- 
bons, under  the  protection  of  the  holy  league  of  Europe,  Lafayette 
again  retired  to  La  Grange,  and  he  remained  there  until  1819, 
when  he  resumed  his  seat  in  the  chamber  of  deputies,  which  he 
continued  to  fill  until  the  foundations  of  the  state  were  again 
broken  up  in  1830. 

It  has  been  asked  "  Why  did  Lafayette  support  the  election  of 
Louis  Philippe  as  king  of  France  ?" — "  Why,  after  having  sup- 
ported that  election,  did  he  abandon  the  chosen  king  of  France 


4:0  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

bo  soon  ?" — "  Why  did  lie  not  understand  the  chief  of  Orleans 
better  before  consenting  to  his  election  as  king  ?" — "  Why  did 
Lafayette  resign  the  office  of  lieutenant-general  with  such  seem- 
ing caprice  ?"  These  questions  embody  the  argument  of  the  pre- 
vailing government  and  party  in  France,  against  the  venerable 
patriot  who  had  carried  her  safely  through  the  last  one  of  so 
many  revolutions.  At  some  hazard  of  being  thought  desirous  of 
gaining  importance  by  relating  conversations  held  with  him  by 
myself,  I  shall  give  you  in  the  simplest  way,  his  own  reply  to  this 
argument  so  industriously  urged  by  his  enemies. 

"It  has  been  said,"  he  remarked,  "that  I  made  Louis  Philippe  king.  That  is  not 
true.  But  it  is  true  that  I  consented  that  he  should  be  king.  I  acted  not  without 
hesitation  even  thus  far.  But  what  could  /do?  What  else  could  be  done?  The 
people  had  achieved  a  revolution.  The  chamber  of  deputies  contained  a  large  majority 
of  patriots,  but  not  of  republicans,  although  there  were  many  republicans.  But  all 
France  regarded  republicanism  with  horror  on  account  on  the  terrible  excesses  of 
1793,  and  nobody  as  yet  was  willing  to  renew  the  experiment.  The  great  desire  of 
every  one  was,  to  bring  the  revolution  to  an  early  end,  because,  although  the  people 
had  behaved  well  thus  far,  it  was,  nevertheless,  feared  that  they  would  become  tur- 
bulent, and  thus  the  tragedy  of  the  old  Republic  would  be  re-enacted.  What  was  to 
be  done?  The  only  one  of  the  Bonapartes  whom  it  was  practicable  to  call  to  the 
throne,  was  the  young  Duke  of  Reichstadt,  and  he  was  a  minor,  a  valetudinarian,  and 
in  the  hands  of  the  Austrians.  He  had  been  educated  by  them,  and  it  was  natural  to 
believe,  he  was  imbued  with  the  prepossessions,  prejudices,  and  principles  of  that  court. 
Besides,  the  name  of  Bonaparte  whs  associated  with  the  reminiscences  of  military 
despotism.  The  throne  of  his  successor  must  be  made  sacred  by  a  return,  in  a  great 
measure,  to  the  same  despotic  system;  and  so  there  were,  you  see,  insuperable  objec- 
tions to  the  restoration  of  the  Napoleon  dynasty.  We  could  not  safely  proclaim  a 
republic.  We  had  no  republican  army  to  rely  upon,  nor  could  such  a  government  at 
this  time  secure  the  confidence  of  the  people,  and  we  knew  full  well  that,  as  soon  as  it 
should  be  proclaimed  all  Europe  would  be  combined  against  us.  The  attention  and 
the  prepossessions  of  all  the  actors  in  the  revolution  were  already  engrossed  by  Louis 
Philippe.  I  was  little  acquainted  with  him.  I  knew  that  he  had  been  a  republican 
in  his  youth.  He  had  talents,  learning,  and  knowledge  of  the  world.  He  was  a  little 
too  fond  of  money,  but  he  had,  hitherto  behaved  very  well,  especially  in  America. 
The  general  sentiment  indicated  Louis  Philippe,  but  it  was  agreed  that,  before  he 
should  be  created  king,  an  interview  with  him  should  be  had,  and  his  sentiments  and 
principles  should  be  ascertained,  and  he  should  be  bound  to  a.  constitutional  monarchy, 
which  should  be  organized  in  such  a  way  as  to  prepare  for  introducing  the  republic. 
Accordingly  I  left  the  people  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  sought  Louis  Philippe.  The 
first  thing  he  said  to  me  was,  'Well,  General  Lafayette,  what  is  to  be  done?'  I 
answered.  'You  are  well  aware  that  I  am  a  republican.  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  is  the  best  form  of  government  that  has  ever  been 
devised  by  man.'  Louis  Philippe  replied,  'My  sentiments  agree  precisely  with  yours, 
and  no  man  can  reside  in  America  two  years,  as  I  have  done,  without  being  convinced 
that  the  government  of  the  United  States  is  the  best  that  can  be  framed.  But  after 
all,  what  shall  we  do  now?  You  know  the  prejudices  and  terrors  with  which  the 
republican  system  is  now  regarded  in  France.  We  can  not  depend  on  the  army. 
Half  of  the  troops  are  Carlists,  and  we  shall  have  all  Europe  invading  us  the  moment 
that  we 'proclaim  a  republic'  I  replied,  'I  am  aware  of  all  this,  and,  therefore,  I 
think  it  is  most  desirable  now  to  give  quiet  to  France,  and  to  consummate  the  revolu- 
tion. It  is  best,  therefore,  to  establish  now,  and  for  a  time,  a  monarchy,  but  one  in 
which  the  monarchical  principle  shall  be  limited  as  much  as  possible,  and  to  encircle 
the  throne  with  republican  institutions,  and  so,  by  educating  the  people,  we  shall 
prepare  them  for  ihe  republic  as  soon  it  shall  be  safe  to  establish  it.'     Loui9  Philippe 


LAFAYETTE.  41 

rejoined,  '  these  are  my  very  thoughts,  I  have  reflected  upon  the  subject,  and  I  agree 
fully  in  all  the  sentiments  you  have  expressed.'  Thereupon  I  returned  to  the  Hotel 
■de  Ville,  and  announced  to  the  people  there  that,  the  sentiments  of  Louis  Philippe 
agreed  exactly  with  my  own,  and,  as  you  know  already,  he  was  then  made  king.  We 
caused  him  to  swear  to  a  charter  containing  two  fundamental  articles,  one  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  people,  and  the  responsibility  of  the  government  to  them :  the  other, 
'universal  suffrage,'  and  he  further  pledged  himself,  that  a  law  should  be  submitted, 
to  begin  immediately  the  great  work  of  education.  I  was  made  lieutenant-general  of 
the  kingdom.  I  did  not  wish  that  office,  but  it  seemed  necessary  to  satisfy  the  people, 
and  attach  them  to  the  new  government.  Besides  I  saw  that  if  I  should  decline  the 
place  it  would  furnish  occasion  for  the  calumny,  that  I  wanted  to  be  king  myself. 
Thereupon  I  assumed  the  office,  and  for  a  time,  all  went  on  well.  Louis  Philippe 
promised  to  support  the  liberal  cause  in  Italy,  and  Belgium,  and  throughout  Europe. 
Stimulated  by  our  example,  aud  our  success,  the  republican  cause  began  its  movement 
in  Poland,  Belgium,  and  Italy.  It  encountered  the  resistance  we  had  anticipated,  and 
then  it  looked  to  us  for  support.  Louis  Philippe  had  not  the  courage  to  sustain  it  as 
he  had  promised.  I  remonstrated  against  his  policy  of  abandoning  to  destruction  those 
whom  we  had  excited  to  take  up  arms.  He  persisted,  and  so  left  them  to  their  hard 
fate.  He  then  became  very  anxious  that  I  should  resign  my  office  ;  and  he  indulged, 
or  affected  apprehension  lest,  in  the  hands  of  a  successor,  the  office  might  become  too 
powerful  for  the  safety  of  France.  I  was  more  desirous  to  resign  it  than  he  was 
that  I  should  retire.  I  felt  that,  I  could  not  hold  it  longer  consistently  with  justice  to 
myself,  and  my  known  principles.  Louis  Philippe  had  already  begun  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  a  new  Bourbon  dynasty,  which  he  designed  should  be  perpetual,  instead 
of  conducting  the  government  so  as  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  republic,  as  he  had 
promised  me.  I  would  have  no  hand  in  such  schemes.  I  was  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  a  republican.  I  knew  that  my  name  was  associated  with  the  cause  of  liberty  and 
republicanism  wherever  that  cause  was  cherished.  I  never  intended  to  seek  or  hold 
office  merely  for  the  sake  of  office  under  any  government,  and  I  had  accepted  the  place 
of  lieutenant-general  only  to  advance  that  cause.  I  could  not  retain  it  under  the  cir- 
cumstances without  lending  the  sanction  of  my  name  whatever  it  might  be  worth,  to 
the  principles  of  the  new  dynasty,  and  that  would  be  doing  violence  to  the  faith  I  had 
in  the  republican  cause,  and  disgusting,  and  so  discouraging  the  friends  of  that  cause 
throughout  the  world.  For  these  reasons  I  resigned.  Louis  Philippe  afterward  said 
that  he  made  no  engagement  with  me  preparatory  to  his  ascent  to  the  throne.  As 
soon  as  I  learned  this  in  an  authentic  way,  I  sent  a  message  to  him  that  I  should  not 
•any  longer  visit  the  Tuilleries,  and  so  the  breach  between  us  was  completed." 

I  have  already  deprecated  the  censure  of  self-conceit,  which 
the  presentation  of  the  recollections  of  such  memorable  con- 
versations may  draw  upon  me.  But  I  must  be  allowed  now  to 
say  that,  my  heart  never  swelled  with  pride  for  my  country, 
more  than  it  did  when  I  received  from  the  lips  of  Lafayette,  this 
avowal  of  his  citizenship  of  this  country  as  the  controlling  prin- 
ciple of  his  conduct  in  that  great  crisis,  so  full  of  importance 
to  his  own  native  land,  and  to  the  cause  of  freedom  throughout 
the  world.  These  conversations  were  held  in  his  own  private 
chamber,  which  was  embellished  with  only  a  bust  of  Washington, 
and  the  cold  marble  seemed  to  warm  and  smile  during  the  narra- 
tion to  which  I  listened.* 

I  must  bring  this  discourse  to  a  close.  How  could  I  so  effect- 
ually have  performed   the  task  of  eulogium,  which  you  have 

*  Other  interesting  reminiscences  of  Lafayette  will  be  found  among  the  "Letters 
from  Europe,"  pp.  6      of  this  volume. — Ed. 


42  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

imposed  upon  me,  as  by  giving  you  a  transcript  of  the  life  of  my 
great  subject,  and  his  sentiments  on  great  affairs  in  his  own  words. 
Yet  how  many  great  actions,  and  how  many  lessons  of  wisdom, 
and  virtue,  and  benevolence,  have  I  necessarily  omitted,  which 
are  familiar  in  all  your  memories. 

You  have  seen  how  love  and  veneration  for  our  country  were 
the  main-spring  of  all  his  actions  and  thoughts,  from  the  early 
dawn  to  the  setting  sun  of  his  political  life.  If  ever  your,  hearts 
have  sickened  under  apprehensions  of  its  degeneracy,  if  ever  you 
have  lost  confidence  or  hope  in  the  virtue  of  the  people,  or  the 
safety  of  the  republic,  you  have  now  been  inspired  with  new  zeal 
to  serve  and  save  it,  by  this  proof  of  the  inestimable  value 
attached  to  its  safety  by  him,  who  was  so  long  the  sole 
representative  of  republicanism  and  liberty  in  Europe.  I  could 
give  you  many  more  illustrations  of  Lafayette's  affection  toward 
America.  I  said  to  his  heroic  daughter,  the  Countess  of  Mar- 
bury,  who  had  sought  imprisonment  with  him  in  the  castle  of 
Olmutz,  "Was  not  the  happiest  hour  in  your  life,  that  one  in 
which  you  saw  your  venerated  parent  again  restored,  after  so 
many  years  of  persecution  and  neglect,  to  his  ancient  influence 
among  the  people  of  France?" — "No!  no,"  said  she,  "the 
proudest  hours  we  have  ever  enjoyed,  were  those  when  the 
American  journals  brought  by  every  packet,  detailed  with 
minuteness,  the  honors  paid  him  during  his  recent  progress 
throughout  the  United  States  of  America." 

The  porch  at  La  Grange  was  decorated  with  cannon,  trophies 
of  the  triumph  of  the  people  over  the  king,  in  the  revolution  of 
1830,  and  drapery,  which  combined  the  tricolored  flag  with  our 
own  stars  and  stripes,  graced  the  grand  stair- way.  Portraits  and 
busts  of  American  patriots,  views  of  Mount  Yernon  and  Quincy, 
and  paintings  illustrating  American  victories  by  land  and  sea, 
were  the  only  embellishments  of  the  chambers  and  halls  of  the 
ancient  chateau.  When,  at  parting,  I  reminded  him  that  we  still 
cherished  here  the  hope  that  he  would  leave  inconstant  and  un- 
grateful France,  and  close  his  days  in  America  ;  "  Believe  me,"  he 
replied,  "  I  should  be  very  unhappy  were  I  to  think  that  I  should 
never  see  America  again.  But  I  have  yet  three  years  to  serve 
in  the  legislature,  and  what  may  happen  within  that  time  God 
alone  knows.  And  so,  indeed,  it  was.  In  less  than  eight  months 
afterward,  the  tongue  that  had  so  recently  blessed  my  country, 


LAFAYETTR  4? 

with  so  much  fervor,  lost  its  cunning,  and  the  majestic  form  that 
had  bent  over  me  so  affectionately  sank  into  the  grave  for  ever. 

Lafayette's  preparations  for  death,  of  course,  harmonized  with 
his  principles  and  conduct  during  life.  France,  however,  like  all- 
other  states,  unjust  at  times  to  her  living  patriots,  is  never  slow 
to  honor  her  illustrious  dead.  She  would  have  decreed  him  a. 
mausoleum  in  the  Pantheon.  But  why  should  his  remains  hava 
been  conveyed  to  the  chill  and  cheerless  vaults,  where  Rousseau 
and  Yoltaire  sleep.  She  would  have  given  him  a  tomb  at  St. 
Denis ;  but  why  should  his  ashes  have  been  mingled  with  those 
of  kings,  whom,  though  he  hated  not,  yet  he  opposed  as  the  hin- 
derers  of  the  advancement  of  their  race.  On  the  contrary,. 
Lafayette  wisely  preferred  that  he  might  await  the  call  of  God 
under  the  grassy  sod  of  Pere  La  Chaise,  in  companionship  with 
Massena,  Ney,  Foy,  and  Constant. 

Young  men,  neighbors,  companions,  and  friends.  You  see  in 
the  life  of  Lafayette,  the  excellence  of  integrity  and  constancy  in 
the  service  of  the  cause  of  republicanism,  of  liberty,  which  is  the 
cause  of  human  nature.  It  is  not  always  that  those  virtues 
appear  to  find,  here,  immediate  acknowledgment  and  just  re- 
ward. But  Providence  sometimes  vouchsafes  illustrations  of  its- 
approval  of  them.  Serious  and  painful  as  were  the  misfortunes 
which  occasionally  and  for  long  seasons  attended  the  great  man, 
whom  we  and  the  world  mourn,  yet  if  you  compare  his  life  and 
death  with  those  of  the  other  actors  in  the  great  drama  in  which 
he  figured,  if  you  compare  his  career  with  those  of  Mirabeau^ 
dying  faithless  alike  to  the  people,  and  the  throne — with  Robes- 
pierre, ignobly  perishing  by  the  axe  that  he  had  put  in  motion  to- 
extirpate  his  enemies — with  Bonaparte,  dying  of  the  gnawings  of 
the  vulture  ambition,  in  his  prison  at  St.  Helena — you  must  con- 
fess that  the  contrast  proves  abundantly,  that  God  is  just  and 
rendereth  judgment  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body 
by  the  children  of  men. 


ORATIONS  AMD  DISCOURSES. 


DANIEL   O'CONNELL. 

There  is  sad  news  from  Genoa.  An  aged  and  weary  pilgrim, 
who  can  travel  no  further,  passes  beneath  the  gate  of  one  of  her 
ancient  palaces,  saying  with  pious  resignation  as  he  enters  its 
silent  chambers :  "  Well !  it  is  God's  will  that  1  shall  never  see 
Rome.  I  am  disappointed.  But  I  am  ready  to  die.  It  is  all 
right." "The  superb"  though  fading  queen  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean holds  anxious  watch,  through  ten  long  days,  over  that 
majestic  stranger's  wasting  frame.  And  now  death  is  there  — 
the  liberator  of  Ireland  has  sunk  to  rest  in  the  cradle  of  Colum- 
bus. 

Coincidence  beautiful  and  most  sublime  !  It  was  the  very  day 
set  apart  by  the  elder  daughter  of  the  church  for  prayer  and  sac- 
rifice throughout  the  world  for  the  children  of  the  sacred  island, 
perishing  by  famine  and  pestilence  in  their  homes  and  in  their 
native  fields,  and  on  their  crowded  paths  of  exile,  on  the  sea  and 
in  the  havens,  and  on  the  lakes,  and  along  the  rivers  of  this  far- 
distant  land.  The  chimes  rung  out  by  pity  for  his  countrymen 
were  O'Connell's  fitting  knell ;  his  soul  went  forth  on  clouds  of 
incense  that  rose  from  altars  of  Christian  charity  ;  and  the  mourn- 
ful anthems  which  recited  the  faith,  and  the  virtue,  and  the  endu- 
rance of  Ireland,  were  his  becoming  requiem. 

It  is  a  holy  sight  to  see  the  obsequies  of  a  soldier,  not  only  of 
civil  liberty,  but  of  the  liberty  of  conscience  —  of  a  soldier,  not 
only  of  freedom,  but  of  the  cross  of  Christ  —  of  a  benefactor,  not 
merely  of  a  race  or  people,  but  of  mankind.  The  vault  lighted 
by  suspended  worlds  is  the  temple  within  which  the  great  solem- 
nities are  celebrated.     The  nations  of  the  earth  are  mourners,  and 

Note. — Daniel  O'Connell  died  May  15,  184/7.  Mr.  Seward,  at  the  invitation  of  the 
friends  of  Ireland  in  New  York,  delivered  this  eulogy  on  his  character  in  Castle  Garden, 
on  the  22d  of  September,  1847.—  Ed. 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  45 

the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  descending  from  their  golden 
thrones  on  high,  break  forth  into  songs  like  this :  — 

"Tears  are  not  now  thy  due.     From  the  world's  toil, 

Come  to  assume  in  heaven  the  brighter  birth : 
A  winged  angel,  from  thy  mortal  coil 

Escaped !     Thy  glory  lingers  yet  round  earth. 
Christ's  hallowed  warrior,  living,  thou  went'st  forth  ; 

Christ's  champion  didst  thou  die.     And  now,  blest  shade! 
The  crown  and  palm  of  righteousness  and  worth 

Thou  wear'st,  with  joys  unspeakable  repaid." 

The  priesthood  of  Genoa,  grateful  for  the  honor  of  dismissing 
the  loft j  spirit  from  its  mortal  conflict,  cover  the  departing  bier 
with  sad  funereal  weeds. 

Home,  ever  avaricious  of  relics,  though  she  has  gathered  into 
her  urn  the  ashes  of  the  great  and  good  of  nearly  thirty  centuries, 
reverently  claims  aud  embalms,  and  shrines  with  her  soul-subdu- 
ing litanies,  the  heart  of  yet  another  — 

"Who  through  the  foes  has  borne  her  banished  gods." 

Behold  now  a  nation  which  needeth  not  to  speak  its  melan- 
choly precedence.  The  lament  of  Ireland  comes  forth  from  pal- 
aces deserted,  and  from  shrines  restored  ;  from  Boyne's  dark 
water,  witness  of  her  desolation,  and  from  Tara's  lofty  hill,  ever 
echoing  her  renown.  But  louder  and  deeper  yet  that  wailing 
comes  from  the  lonely  huts  on  mountain  and  on  moor,  where  the 
people  of  the  greenest  island  of  all  the  seas  are  expiring  in  the 
midst  of  insufficient  though  world-wide  charities.  Well  indeed 
may  they  deplore  O'Connell,  for  they  were  his  children.  And 
he  bore  them 

"  A  love  so  vehement,  so  strong,  so  pure, 
That  neither  age  could  change  nor  art  could  cure." 

Again  and  again,  as  if  they  feared  to  disturb  him  with  excess  of 
sorrow,  they  plead :  — 

"If  yet  we  keep 

Vigils  of  grief,  and  echo  groan  for  groan, 
Tis  not  for  thee;  but  for  ourselves  we  weep, 
Whose  noblest  pillar  lies  in  thee  o'erthrown." 

The  pageant  pauses.  Next  to  the  chief  mourner,  space  is 
opened  for  America,  eldest  of  the  new-born  nations.  Why  shall 
not  America  accept  that  distinguished  privilege  ?  O'Connell  was 
a  champion  of  universal  constitutional  freedom.     That  is  her  own 

A 


46  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

cause  —  all  her  own.  She  arms,  and  instructs,  and  sends  forth, 
all  its  chieftains ;  and  when  one  of  them  falls  in  the  ever-contin- 
uing conflict — be  his  faith,  his  tongue,  or  his  4ineage,  what  it 
may  —  whether  he  die  on  the  snowy  plains  of  Poland,  among  the 
-classic  islands  of  Greece,  under  the  bright  skies  of  Italy,  among 
the  vine-clad  hills  of  France,  or  in  the  green  valleys  of  Ireland — 
be  he  Kosciusko,  or  Bozzaris,  or  Lafayette,  or  O'Connell — Amer- 
ica hastens  to  bear  witness  that  he  was  her  soldier,  citizen,  and 
representative. 

Panegyric  commonly  begins  its  picture  by  calling  up  revered 
ancestral  shadows  from  long-forgotten  graves,  to  fill  the  back- 
ground ;  and  then  surrounds  its  hero  with  cotemporaneous  forms 
of  kindred  greatness.  But  there  are  figures  so  majestic  as  to 
•exclude  from  the  canvass  all  living  companionship,  while  they 
derive  no  grandeur  from  being  grouped  with  even  the  awful 
forms  of  the  illustrious  dead.  Such  is  every  one  who,  by  per- 
mission of  Providence,  the  devotion  of  his  own  soul,  and  the 
consent  given  by  his  fellow-men,  or  extorted  from  them,  losing 
his  own  individuality,  becomes  for  a  period  the  representative  of 
a  race,  a  people,  a  nation,  or  it-  may  be  of  many  races,  peoples, 
or  nations.  You  recognise  Napoleon  in  the  brilliant  scene  of  his 
coronation  in  Notre  Dame,  or  when  taking  leave  of  his  veterans 
at  Fontainebleau  ;  but  you  are  transported  with  awe  or  pity  when 
you  contemplate  him  among  the  solitudes  of  the  frozen  Alps,  or 
looking  off  on  the  imprisoning  sea  from  the  inaccessible  cliffs  of 
St.  Helena.  You  perceive  the  serene  dignity  of  Washington  in 
the  picture  that  commemorates  his  acceptance  of  his  dangerous 
commission  in  the  halls  of  the  continental  Congress;  and  you 
weep  when  he  is  seen  dismissing  his  unrewarded  though  triumph- 
ant army  on  the  heights  of  the  Hudson.  But  your  soul  is  over- 
powered with  his  greatness  when  you  come  to  the  uncanopied 
place  where  Greenough's  accurate  taste,  banishing  even  the 
drapery  of  the  living  age,  presents  to  you  the  Father  of  his  Coun- 
try in  colossal  marble  alone. 

From  the  beginning  there  have  been  two  conditions  of  man, 
and  these  in  perpetual  opposition,  force  and  resistance  ;  two  agen- 
cies working  out  his  destiny,  power  and  freedom,  and  these  in 
unceasing  conflict ;  two  elements  of  government,  aristocracy  and 
democracy,  and  these  in  everlasting  war.  Nations  inspire  us 
with  awe,  or  hate,  or  reverence,  or  sympathy,  as  they  sustain  one 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  47 

or  the  other  of  these  conditions,  exert  one  or  the  other  of  these 
agencies,  manifest  one  or  the  other  of  these  elements.  The  man 
who  for  a  time  becomes  substituted  for  a  nation,  is  clothed  in 
our  regard  with  the  national  attributes.  The  people  of  Ireland, 
during  nearly  seven  hundred  years,  have  maintained  a  conflict 
for  our  common  race,  of  resistance  against  force,  freedom  against 
power,  right  against  usurpation.  Through  more  than  twenty 
years  of  that  conflict,  Daniel  O'Connell  was  the  impersonation  of 
that  people  — 

"A  nation  in  a  man  compris'd." 

In  this  consists  the  secret  of  the  interest  he  excited  while  living, 
and  of  all  his  fame  now  that  he  lives  no  more.  It  is  his  country, 
therefore,  and  only  his  country  —  as  she  was,  as  she  is,  and  as 
she  is  to  be  —  that  must  be  regarded,  if  we  would  fully  compre- 
hend and  truly  know  the  character  of  O'Connell. 

Ireland  was  long  ago  an  independent  nation,  governed  by  a 
king  and  council  or  parliament,  and  was  divided  into  inferior 
kingdoms  and  subordinate  sects  or  clans.  It  had  population  and 
revenues  equal  to  what  were  generally  possessed  by  other  states 
in  the  same  age.  One  of  its  inhabitants  thus  described  the  king- 
dom a  thousand  years  ago  :  — 

"Far  westward  lies  an  isle  of  ancient  fame, 
By  Nature  blest  —  Hibernia  is  her  name 
Enrolled  in  books  —  exhaustless  is  her  store 
Of  veiny  silver  and  of  golden  ore. 
Her  fruitful  soil  for  ever  teems  with  wealth, 
With  gems  her  waters,  and  her  air  with  health ; 
Her  verdant  fields  with  milk  and  honey  flow, 
Her  woolly  fleeces  vie  with  virgin  snow ; 
Her  waving  furrows  float  with  bended  corn, 
And  arms  and  arts  her  envied  sons  adorn. 
No  poison  there  infects,  nor  scaly  snake 
Creeps  through  the  grass  or  settles  in  the  lake. 
A  nation  worthy  of  its  pious  race  — 
In  war  triumphant,  and  unmatched  in  peace." 

Ireland  had  then  a  court  in  which  learning  was  honored  next 
to  royalty ;  a  church  that  sent  forth  missionaries  who  converted 
a  large  portion  of  western  Europe ;  laws  that  divided  estates  of 
the  dead  with  equal  justice;  that  gave  the  trial  by  jury — the 
Anglo-Saxon's  boast;  that  ordained  inns  for  the  entertainment 
of  travellers  at  the  public  expense,  and  that  knew  only  one  capi- 


43  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

tal  or  unpardonable  crime.  And  it  was  treason  and  sacrilege  to 
change  those  laws.  There  were  trained  bands  which  were  sworn 
to  resist  even  a  seven-fold  foe  ;  knights  who  won  renown  for  valor 
and  courtesy  on  the  plains  of  Palestine,  and  dames  who  were 
honored  by  admiring  bards  and  minstrels  in  strains  like  these  :  — 

"The  daughter  of  Moran  seized  the  harp! 
And  her  voice  of  music  praised  the  strangers. 
Their  soul  melted  at  the  song 
Like  a  wreath  of  snow  before  the  eye  of  the  sun." 

I  speak  no  interested,  no  partial,  no  imaginative  eulogy.  It  is 
the  testimony  of  general  history,  as  accredited  by  modern  learn- 
ing. 

Alas,  how  unlike  is  this  picture  to  Ireland  now,  in  an  age  ten- 
fold more  enlightened  and  humane !  What  has  wrought  this- 
change?  Has  Ireland  degenerated,  or  has  she  been  degraded 
and  debased  by  foreign  power  ?  Did  Ireland  struggle,  or  did  she 
resign  herself  to  ruin  ?     Listen,  and  you  shall  hear. 

Separated  by  only  an  ocean-channel,  and  colonized  originally 
by  the  same  Celtic  race,  the  islands  of  Britain  and  Ireland  have 
been  distinguished  by  fortunes  as  wide  as  the  poles.  Britain, 
conquered  by  the  Eomans,  the  Danes,  the  Saxons,  and  the  Nor- 
mans, derived  from  that  severe  experience  the  consolidation,  dis- 
cipline, ambition,  and  energy,  which  have  enabled  it  to  grasp 
the  empire  of  the  world.  Ireland,  devoted  to  piety  and  learning, 
remaining  long  unconquered  and  unconquerable,  and  unmoved 
by  cupidity  or  ambition,  was  early  distracted  by  factions,  and 
finally  betrayed  by  them  to  a  conqueror. 

In  the  twelfth  century,  Henry  II.,  a  Norman  king  of  England, 
who  held  the  refinements  of  life  in  much  contempt,  "  cast  in  his 
mind"  to  conquer  the  adjoining  island,  "  because  it  was  commo- 
dious for  him,  and  its  people  seemed  to  him  savage  and  rude.n 
Invited  by  a  native  prince  who  had  been  dethroned,  he  appeared 
in  Ireland  with  a  real  or  forged  grant  under  the  seal  of  Break- 
speare,  an  Englishman,  who  occupied  the  papal  see  at  Eome,  un- 
der the  name  of  Adrian  IV.  Early  converted  to  Christianity 
without  the  blood  of  martyrs,  the  Irish  had  nevertheless  been  the 
last  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  Rome.  Having  received 
that  article  of  faith,  they  have  held  it  fast  at  the  cost  of  ages  of 
want,  of  millions  of  lives,  and  even  of  national  existence.  Ire- 
land denied  the  pretensions  of  the  pope  to  temporal  power,  and 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  40 

resisted  the  invader.  Henry  did  not  reinstate  the  Irish  king,  but 
established  on  the  coast  a  martial  colony ;  and  by  virtue  of  this 
acquisition,  which  was  henceforth  called  the  Pale,  he  claimed  to 
be  conqueror  of  the  whole  island.  A  royal  deputy  governed  the 
Pale  with  a  council  of  nobles  and  clergy,  which  afterward  be- 
came a  parliament,  and  the  little  domain  was  parcelled  out  by 
the  king  in  great  estates  to  court-favorites  and  military  adven- 
turers. The  aristocracy  of  England  was  thus  by  fraud  and  force 
planted  in  the  Island  of  Saints,  as  it  was  then  reverently  called. 
Thenceforth  its  veins  of  silver  and  its  dust  of  gold,  the  rubies  of 
its  lakes,  the  grain  in  its  waving  furrows,  and  the  flocks  on  its 
thousand  hills,  were  to  pass  away  from  its  harmless  people,  to 
pamper  despotic  and  insatiable  lords.  That  august  court,  those 
ancient  seminaries,  those  valiant  bands,  those  chivalrous  knights, 
that  cynosure  of  beauty,  and  the  bards  who  so  worthily  celebrated 
it,  faded,  declined,  and  were  lost  for  ever ! 

The  establishment  of  the  Pale  enfeebled  Ireland,  although  the 
colony  was  utterly  incompetent  to  subjugate  the  kingdom.  The 
colonists  claimed  to  be  masters  of  the  island.  The  Irish,  with 
the  British  power  in  the  heart  of  the  country,  asserted  their  sov- 
ereignty and  independence.  Hence  resulted  a  division  which,, 
perpetuated  until  now,  has  involved  both  in  a  common  ruin.  The 
distinction  between  the  natives  and  the  invaders  was  graven  broad 
and  deep  by  these  conflicting  titles,  and  by  perpetual  wars,  in- 
veterate policy,  and  clashing  codes.  The  government  of  Eng- 
land acknowledged  only  the  English  inhabitants  of  the  Pale  as- 
lawful  subjects,  and  denounced  the  natives  as  "  aliens,"  "  wild 
Irish,"  and  "enemies."  Magna  Charta  and  the  common  law 
were  introduced  within  the  Pale,  but  their  protection  was  denied 
to  the  natives,  while  they  were  subjected  to  the  power  of  the 
English  courts.  The  Irish  language  and  costume  were  inhibited, 
intermarriages  forbidden,  and  naturalization  under  English  laws 
denied.  It  wras  made  lawful  to  kill  an  Irishman  on  suspicion, 
without  trial  or  process,  and  unlawful  to  entertain  an  Irish  min- 
strel, to  keep  an  Irish  servant,  or  to  feed  an  Irish  horse.  The 
native  princes,  nobles,  and  knights,  within  the  colony,  were  trod- 
den down,  and  the  wretched  people,  expelled  on  the  one  hand  as 
aliens  and  rebels  from  their  rightful  possessions,  and  on  the  other 
by  the  native  Septs  into  whose  hands  they  were  driven,  were  thus 
rendered  houseless  and  desperate.     Outlaws  by  statute  and  by 

Vol.  III.  —  4- 


50  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

proclamation,  they  formed  themselves  from  necessity  into  preda- 
tory bands,  and,  descending  from  the  mountains,  made  reprisals 
on  the  Pale,  and  carried  the  war  of  fierce  retaliation  to  the  very 
gates  nf  its  cities. 

The  r.ust  of  power  soon  discovered  and  opened  that  fountain 
whose  bitter  floods  no  art  can  stay  nor  purify.  Ambitious  Dub- 
lin robbed  Armagh,  the  archiepiscopal  see,  of  its  treasures  and 
sacred  relics.  The  king  of  England  rewarded  the  sacrilege  with 
ecclesiastical  authority  over  the  island  ;  proscribed  from  the  min- 
istry the  natives  who  denounced  the  usurpation  ;  and  the  English 
church  within  the  Pale  set  the  stamp  of  its  approbation  on  the 
policy  of  the  government  by  the  atrocious  dogma  that  it  was  not 
a  sin  to  kill  an  Irishman. 

But  it  remained  for  the  Tudors,  the  commonwealth,  and  the 
{jruelphs,  to  sound  the  depths  of  fanaticism.  Although  the  par- 
liament of  England  vacillated  long  with  the  policy  and  caprice 
of  the  court,  the  conversion  of  the  people  of  that  country  to  the 
tenets  of  the  Reformation  resulted  from  a  conviction  that  the  re- 
ligion of  Luther  was  true.  The  Catholic  church  there  was  sub- 
verted. But  England  was  in  some  sort  connected  with  Ireland, 
and  she  must  be  converted  in  order  that  a  superstitious  prophecy 
might  be  fulfilled,  which  taught  that  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  would 
fall  when  Ireland  should  cease  to  sustain  it,  and  to  the  end  also 
that  Rome  should  not  regain  her  ascendency  in  England  through 
the  agency  of  Catholic  Ireland.  England  sent,  to  convert  Ire- 
land, not  missionaries,  but  the  sword.  Rejecting  the  Catholic 
ritual  because  it  was  expressed  in  an  unknown  tongue,  she  sent 
the  English  prayer-book  to  a  people  ignorant  of  that  language, 
and  employed  a  ferocious  soldiery  to  illustrate  its  real  simplicity 
and  beauty.  The  parliament  of  the  Pale,  like  the  sunflower, 
turned  its  revolving  face  to  catch  the  royal  smile,  and  received 
from  Henry  VIII.,  Edward  VI.,  Mary,  and  Elizabeth,  successive- 
ly, a  different  religion  with  the  same  cheerful  loyalty  that  it 
greeted  "  the  new  superscription  and  image  of  each  on  the  coin 
of  the  kingdom."  The  Irish  preferred  their  own  long-cherished 
religion  to  that  so  rudely  and  inconsistently  recommended  to 
them  by  their  enemies.  Thenceforth  ensued  a  war  of  confiscation 
and  massacre  reaching  far  toward  our  own  time,  and  in  which,  al- 
though the  parties  remained  unchanged,  the  hostility  of  races  was 
lest  in  the  terrible  conflict  of  religious  sects.  England,  exasperated 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  51 

hj  the  firmness  of  Ireland,  determined  to  extirpate  her  heresy  by 
exterminating  her  people,  and  to  supply  their  place  with  more 
orthodox  colonies  from  Scotland  as  well  as  from  the  regions  south 
of  the  Tweed.  The  genius  of  the  versatile  Bacon  was  tasked  to 
make  the  new  plantations  grow,  and  the  funds  to  carry  on  the 
exterminating  war  were  obtained  by  mortgaging  the  lands  to  be 
conquered.  No  mercy  was  shown  even  to  women  or  children  in 
this  war  of  faith.  The  Irish  people  fled  before  the  destructive 
armies,  and  took  refuge  in  caverns.  Subsisting  there  on  the  fruits 
of  the  pasturage,  and  on  the  spoils  taken  from  their  invaders,  they 
multiplied  like  the  blades  of  grass,  while  their  obnoxious  faith 
became  as  firm  as  their  mountain-homes.  Then  came  new  ar- 
mies, driving  the  natives  down  upon  the  plains ;  and  when  it  was 
found  that  famine  and  pestilence  involved  both  parties  in  com- 
mon destruction,  the  merciful  concession  was  made  that  the  en- 
tire Catholic  population  of  Ireland  should  be  allowed  a  refuge  in 
a  single  province,  there  to  remain,  on  pain  of  death  if  found  be- 
yond its  borders. 

At  length,  in  the  year  of  the  gospel  of  peace  on  earth  and  good- 
will toward  men,  1691 — just  five  hundred  and  twenty  years  after 
the  invasion  by  Henry  —  the  wars  which  he  began  at  first  for 
conquest,  and  which  afterward  became  a  medley  of  rapine  and 
fanaticism,  came  to  an  end  by  the  treaty  of  Limerick  after  the 
battle  of  the  Boyne :  — 

"  Wearied  with  tedious  war  they  cease, 
And  both  the  kings  and  kingdoms  plight  the  peace." 

What  were  the  results  of  these  long  and  furious  wars  ?  Ireland 
was  conquered  at  last,  and  was  despoiled.  The  aristocracy  of 
England  were  owners  and  masters  in  Ireland,  and  its  native  pos- 
sessors were  tenants,  servants,  and  slaves.  The  country  contained 
eleven  millions  of  acres  of  tillable  land.  One  million  were  pos 
sessed  by  Englishmen  who,  having  come  to  convert  Ireland  to 
Luther,  had  relapsed  to  Eorae.  Ten  millions  of  acres  were  the 
property  of  English  Protestant  lords,  and  not  one  acre  was  left  tc 
the  native  Celtic  Irishman.  But  the  people  of  Ireland  had  not 
been  exterminated.  .  They  constituted  three  fourths  of  the  popu- 
lation, and  were  more  numerous  than  ever.  What  then  ?  Had 
Ireland  saved  nothing ?  Had  England  gained  everything?  No ! 
The  aristocracy  of  England  had  gained  a  country  they  could  not 


52  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

fill :  Ireland  had  saved  her  faith,  and  England  had  gained  noth- 
ing, not  even  the  security  she  had  deemed  essential.  The  Catho- 
lic religion  remained  unshaken  in  Ireland.  Liberty  of  conscience 
was  a  condition  of  the  capitulation  at  Limerick,  and  was  solemnly 
guarantied  by  William  of  Orange,  and  Mary  the  daughter  of 
James. 

Policy  as  well  as  public  faith  now  required  that  the  conquered 
kingdom  should  be  left  in  peace,  that  its  wasted  strength  should 
be  repaired,  that  the  rankling  wounds  opened  during  centuries  of 
persecution  should  be  healed,  and  that  Ireland  should  be  admitted 
to  free  enjoyment  of  the  civil  rights  guarantied  by  the  British 
constitution.  But  fear  and  fanaticism  know  no  policy  suggested 
by  humanity,  and  keep  no  covenants,  though  they  be  written  in 
blood.  England  still  feared  the  return  of  her  Catholic  princes,, 
and  therefore  willed  that  the  people  of  Ireland,  although  inflexi 
ble  in  their  faith,  and  always  loyal  when  not  driven  to  rebellion, 
and  although  they  were  reposing  on  the  treaty  of  Limerick,  should 
nevertheless  be  converted  to  the  Beformation.  The  object  of 
England  remained  the  same,  only  the  means  were  now  changed, 
and  perfidy  was  added  to  persecution.  The  army  gave  place  to 
the  sterner  despotism  of  the  law,  and  the  sword  to  the  scaffold 
—  a  more  certain  engine  of  destruction. 

Ireland  was  already  subjected  under  a  constitution  admirably 
adapted  to  the  introduction  of  the  penal  religious  code.  Her 
only  legislature  was  the  parliament  of  the  Pale  —  and  this  sem- 
blance of  a  legislature  had  been  deprived  of  life  by  the  Poynings 
law,  which  forbade  it  to  assemble  without  the  previous  consent 
of  the  king,  or  to  pass  any  law  not  first  approved  by  him.  Peti- 
tions from  Ireland  were  inhibited  unless  first  sanctioned  by  the 
royal  deputy  residing  there ;  and  Irishmen  were  forbidden  to 
leave  their  country,  lest  by  their  complaints  they  might  annoy 
the  majesty  of  the  king,  or  disturb  the  equanimity  of  the  com- 
mons of  England.  The  penal  code  banished  the  bishop,  the  priest, 
and  the  schoolmaster,  from  Ireland  ;  forbade  attendance  on  Cath- 
olic worship  on  pain  of  death  for  perseverance ;  made  the  con- 
verting of  a  Protestant  to  the  Catholic  faith  a  felony  ;  annulled 
existing  marriages  between  Catholics  and  Protestants,  and  inter- 
dicted them  in  future ;  transferred  Catholic  children  of  living  pa- 
rents to  guardians  in  chancery ;  closed  against  Catholics  every 
office  of  trust  or  profit  in  the  state,  in  the  army,  and  in  the  navy, 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  53 

&nd  in  every  corporation,  mercantile  or  municipal;  deprived 
them  of  the  right  to  be  freeholders,  the  right  to  vote,  to  maintain 
actions  at  law,  to  be  jurors,  to  keep  arms  for  self-defence,  to  travel 
even  within  the  kingdom,  to  be  executors  or  guardians,  and  even 
of  the  right  to  keep  a  horse  worth  more  than  five  pounds ;  robbed 
the  Catholic  child  of  its  estate  if  even  unwillingly  or  uncon 
sciously  instructed  by  a  Catholic  at  home  or  abroad ;  transferred 
a  Catholic  parent's  estate  to  his  abjuring  son;  gave  a  separate 
maintenance  to  a  renouncing  wife,  and  emancipated  from  paren 
tal  control  all  Catholic  children  who  would  forsake  the  family 
altar;  subjected  Catholic  property  to  seizure  for  puolic  purposes 
without  compensation:  and  finally  provided  for  the  execution  ol 
these  dreadful  laws  by  a  judiciary  responsible  to  the  king,  by 
bishops  with  prisons  in  some  cases,  by  magistrates  in  others  with 
the  rack  instead  of  the  jury,  and  in  others  with  juries  authorized 
to  render  verdicts  at  the  solicitation  of  corrupt  informers  and  on 
the  testimony  of  convicted  felons.  Thus  did  the  religion  whoae 
test  is  the  mutual  love  of  its  disciples,  become,  under  human 
policy  — 

"A  plea  for  sating  the  unnatural  thirst 
For  murder,  rapine,  violence,  and  crime." 

No  language  less  copious,  elaborate,  and  accurate,  than  that 
of  Edmund  Burke,  can  express  the  character  of  this  extraordinary 
code :  "  It  is,"  said  he,  "  a  system  full  of  coherence  and  consist- 
ency ;  well  digested  and  well  disposed  in  all  its  parts ;  a  machine 
of  wise  and  elaborate  contrivance,  well  fitted  for  the  impoverish- 
ment and  degradation  of  a  people,  and  the  debasement  in  them 
of  human  nature  itself." 

This  system  continued  in  its  utmost  possible  efficiency  until  the 
year  1778 ;  and,  although  then  somewhat  modified,  it  remained 
in  oppressive  operation  until  the  year  1829,  a  period  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-nine  years. 

And  what  were  the  effects  of  the  penal  code  and  of  the  system 
which  preceded  it  ?  Ireland  groaned  under  the  burdens  of  a  for- 
eign government  and  of  foreign  landlords.  Commerce  had  grown 
~to  be  a  mighty  power  in  England,  and  Commerce  struck  hands 
with  Fanaticism.  Ireland  was  forbidden  all  foreign  trade,  while 
its  manufactories  were  undermined  to  favor  English  monopoly. 
Notwithstanding  the  resources  and  fertility  of  the  country,  its 
^wealth  was  exhausted  in  paying  rents  to  English  landlords,  tithe3 


54  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES, 

to  English  priests,  profits  to  English  artisans,  and  taxes  to  the 
English  government. 

"  For  foreign  lords  her  people  sow  their  native  land." 

Poverty  stalked  through  the  isle.  Half  the  increase  of  popu- 
lation was  given  up  to  America  to  fell  the  forests  and  plant  cities 
there,  and  the  remainder  was  reduced  to  subsist  on  an  esculent 
root,  the  cheapest  yielded  by  Nature  to  the  cultivating  hand  of 
man.  Were  not  the  natives  then  extirpated  ?  Did  they  nottfren 
renounce  that  odious  faith  ?  No  !  Ireland  had  increased  its  num- 
bers by  threefold.  We  do  not  know  that  one  parent  had  relin- 
quished his  creed,  one  wife  had  forsaken  her  husband,  or  one 
child  had  abjured  the  altar  of  its  forefathers.  Protestantism, 
though  nourished  on  plunder,  had  declined ;  and  the  religion  of 
Pome,  watered  by  tears  and  fanned  by  the  blasts  of  persecution, 
flourished  in  unwonted  and  vigorous  luxuriance. 

This  was  the  condition  of  Ireland  in  1775 :  and  now  our  inqui- 
ries are  answered.  The  people  of  Ireland  have  not  degenerated. 
They  have  been  degraded  from  their  high  estate,  not  by  their 
own  act,  but  by  the  aristocracy  of  England.  They  have  resisted 
this  degradation  with  heroic  energy,  and  have  resisted  to  the  last. 
The  aristocracy  of  England  has  usurped  the  government  of  Ire 
land,  and  set  upon  it 

"The  mark  of  selfishness, 
The  signet  of  its  all-enslaving  power." 

This  was  the  condition  of  that  unhappy  country  in  the  year 
1775,  six  hundred  and  five  years  after  the  descent  of  Henry,  the 
Anglo-Norman  king,  on  its  coast,  when  two  events  happened, 
widely  different  and  distant  —  the  one  in  an  obscure  corner  of 
the  island,  the  other  in  a  remote  part  of  the  British  empire  — 
events  destined  to  affect  for  ever  the  condition,  not  only  of  Ire- 
land, but  of  all  mankind.  British  troops  fired  on  the  militia  oi 
Massachusetts,  in  Lexington,  on  the  19th  of  April,  1775 ;  and 
Daniel  O'Connell  was  born  at  Carhen,  in  Ireland,  on  the  6th  of 
August,  in  the  same  year. 

The  American  Revolution  exhibited  a  triumphant  resistance  to 
the  unconstitutional  legislation  of  the  imperial  parliament  by  a 
portion  of  the  empire  far  less  oppressed  than  Ireland,  and  infi- 
nitely more  prosperous  and   happy.     But  that  revolution  was 


DANIFX  O'CONNELL.  55 

more  than  this :  it  vindicated  the  inalienable  and  universal  right 
of  mankind  to  resist  oppression  and  overthrow  tyranny,  however 
established  and  however  long  endured.  It  was  even  mere  than 
this :  it  vindicated  the  inalienable  and  universal  right  and  capa- 
city of  mankind  to  establish  and  conduct  governments  for  them- 
selves, and  to  change  them  at  pleasure.  It  struck  the  govern- 
ments of  the  earth  with  consternation,  and  bewildered  the  enslaved 
masses  of  men  with  hopes  which  were  not  altogether  illusions,  of 
freedom  and  of  universal  equality.  In  the  language  of  Lafayette, 
America  was  not  a  solitary  rebel.  She  was  a  patrol  in  the  cause 
of  humanity. 

Ireland  not  only  sympathized  profoundly  with  the  transatlan- 
tic colonies  in  their  complaints  of  usurpation,  under  which  she 
suffered  more  sorely  than  they,  but  with  inherent  benevolence 
and  ardor  she  yielded  at  once  to  the  sway  of  the  great  American 
idea  of  universal  emancipation.  The  bitter  memory  of  a  stream 
of  ages  lifted  up  her  thoughts,  and  she  was  ready  to  follow  to  the 
war  for  the  rights  of  human  nature  — 

"The  propitious  god  that  seemed  to  lead  the  way." 

This  war,  thus  opened  by  America,  is  the  same  struggle  in 
which  Ireland  has  been  engaged  ever  since,  in  which  O'Connell 
labored  with  so  much  zeal,  and  force,  and  success,  and  which  he 
has  left  unfinished. 

England  was  soon  at  war,  not  only  with  her  American  colonies, 
but  also  with  France,  and  Spain,  and  Holland.  France  threat- 
ened to  invade  Ireland,  and  America  had  already  led  Ireland  into 
a  revolution.  Left  by  the  British  government  to  defend  them- 
selves, the  people  of  Ireland  gathered  at  once  an  army  of  brave 
and  well-appointed  volunteers,  ready  to  resist  the  threatened  in- 
vasion if  England  would  yield  independence,  and  even  more 
ready  to  achieve  independence  if  it  should  be  refused.  The  in- 
fluence of  such  great  events  exalted  for  a  time  the  virtues  of  the 
Irish  people.  The  Catholic  forgot  his  peculiar  wrongs  amid  the 
new-born  hopes  of  his  country ;  the  Protestant  forgot  his  long- 
cherished  fears.  Now  firmly  united,  and  lifting  with  them  for  a 
brief  period  the  wretched  legislature  of  the  Pale,  they  demanded 
the  independence  of  that  parliament.  They  preserved  the  forms 
of  loyalty,  indeed,  but  their  resolution  of  rights  was  couched  in 
the  language  of  freemen,  and  their  petitions  were  written  on  the 


r  >  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

drum-head  and  presented  on  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  The  Brit- 
ish parliament  were  confounded.  They  heard  at  the  same  mo- 
ment the  same  principles,  sentiments,  and  resolutions,  from  Jef- 
ferson, and  Adams,  and  Jay,  and  Franklin,  in  the  Congress  of 
America ;  from  Grattan  and  Flood,  in  the  parliament  of  Ireland ; 
and  from  Chatham,  the  tribune  of  the  whole  empire,  wTithin  their 
own  halls.  They  evaded,  then  conciliated,  and  at  last  conceded. 
In  1778,  the  provisions  of  the  penal  code  concerning  the  rights 
of  property  and  education  were  relaxed.  Other  concessions  of 
the  same  sort  followed  in  1782 ;  and  in  the  same  year,  when  the 
exigency  became  more  alarming,  Ireland  was  restored  to  inde- 
pendence by  a  declaration  of  the  British  parliament  that." the 
rights  claimed  by  the  people  of  that  island,  to  be  bound  only  by 
laws  enacted  by  his  majesty  and  the  parliament  of  that  kingdom, 
should  be  and  then  were  established,  and  should  at  no  time  there- 
after be  questioned  or  questionable."  Ireland,  always  moderate, 
always  confiding,  was  content  with  this  concession,  which  left  her 
a  distinct  kingdom,  independent  of  Britain,  but  united  to  that 
country  through  a  common  Protestant  throne.  Then,  as  her 
heart  swelled  with  the  memories  of  the  glories  of  other  days,  and 
opened  to  visions  of  brighter  glories  in  the  future,  she  clasped 
her  sister  England  with  gratitude,  pride,  and  affection,  forgetting 
the  injuries  of  six  hundred  years!  Did  ever  the  earth  exhibit  a 
scene  of  truer  national  magnanimity  ? 

But  Ireland  in  1782  was  only  independent  as  America  was  in 
the  same  period.  It  yet  remained  in  each  country  to  establish 
and  secure  the  liberties  of  the  people.  This  was  done  here  by 
the  erection  of  the  federal  republican  constitution  of  1787,  which, 
although  reared  amid  doubts  and  fears,  has  gained  stability  with 
time,  and  has,  as  we  ardently  hope,  become  eternal. 

But  the  parliament  of  Dublin  remained  in  Ireland.  It  was  no 
less  now  than  before  the  engine  of  the  usurping  aristocracy  of 
England.  Its  virtues  had  expired  in  the  throes  of  its  new  birth. 
No  constitution  could  be  obtained  without  the  consent  of  the 
parliament  of  the  Pale  —  a  parliament  in  which  three  fourths  of 
the  people  had  not  a  shadow  of  representation,  and  the  other  por- 
tion had  only  a  shadow.  In  the  face  of  an  armed  convention  of 
the  people,  and  in  the  midst  of  universal  commotion,  the  parlia- 
ment of  Dublin  refused  a  constitution  to  Ireland !  Already  all 
that  had  been  gained  was  lost  but  the  shadow  of  independence, 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  57 

and  that  was  sure  to  follow  soon.  The  patriots  of  Ireland  hast- 
ened from  the  hated  halls  of  the  parliament  of  the  Pale  with  deep 
disgust,  and,  rushing  to  the  altars  of  Liberty,  applied  fKs  nselves 
to  wake  again  its  sleeping  fires.  The  revolution  was  once  more 
set  in  motion,  but  the  ball  had  nearly  spent  its  force.  The  men 
of  '98,  brave  and  true,  attempted  under  circumstances  of  ex- 
treme difficulty  to  prepare  a  doubtful  war.  The  Irish  people 
were  again  dissevered  by  the  same  everlasting  cause  of  faction  — 
the  foreign  aristocracy  in  their  bosom.  Although  the  gallant 
leaders  were  Protestants,  yet  the  mass  of  Protestants  supported 
the  parliament.  The  Catholic  clergy  saw  the  helplessness  of  con- 
flict, and  shuddered  at  the  calamities  it  portended  to  a  faithful 
and  already  deeply-wretched  people.  England  had  recovered 
her  giant  energies.  The  thunders  of  the  American  Revolution 
slept.  An  ambitious,  licentious,  and  ferocious  faction,  reigned 
in  Paris ;  and  Blasphemy,  claiming  the  name  of  Liberty,  was 
threatening  to  involve  the  world  in  anarchy.  Nevertheless,  there 
was  no  hope  for  Ireland  but  in  aid  from  France,  and  in  the  arms 
of  her  own  people.  The  insurrection  was  planned  with  skill  and 
secrecy,  but  Treason  gained  access  to  its  councils  and  fomented 
it  to  a  precocious  maturity.  Then  it  broke  forth  only  to  betray 
its  heroic  leaders  to  the  scaffold,  and  their  patriotic  associates 
throughout  the  island  to  massacre  indiscriminate  and  merciless. 

Yet  the  rebellion  of  '98  was  not  altogether  unavailing.  Every 
drop  that  streams  from  the  veins  of  a  martyr  in  the  cause  of  lib- 
erty is  gathered  again  by  Him  who  wills  that  all  his  children 
shall  be  free,  and  is  poured  into  the  heart  of  some  new-born 
champion,  imparting  more  than  human  vigor  to  the  arm  of  the 
avenger. 

The  British  government  now  asserted  that  Ireland  had  tried 
the  responsibilities  of  government,  and  had  proved  herself  incom- 
petent. They  disarmed  the  people,  established  martial  law, 
falsely  promised  specious  favors  to  the  Catholics,  and  showered 
gold  and  power  on  the  Protestants :  and  thus,  in  1800,  the  eigh- 
teenth year  of  Irish  independence,  obtained  from  the  parliament 
of  the  Pale  the  surrender  of  its  infamous  existence.  Ireland,  fet- 
tered and  manacled  more  than  ever  before,  was  annexed  to  Great 
Britain  by  the  act  of  union. 

A  gloomy  period  of  twenty  years  succeeded.  Tyranny  scarcely 
feared  resistance.     Penury  had  taken  up  her  home  in  the  land. 


58  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

Turbulence  was  abroad,  but  only  to  reconcile  the  people  to  any 
government  that  would  suppress  disorder.  Wealth  and  learning, 
warme I  r.t  the  root  with  the  unnatural  heat  of  royal  favor,  lest 
their  independent  attitude,  and,  putting  forth  parasitic  tendrils, 
twined  in  sickly  growth  around  the  pillars  of  the  state.  The  peas- 
antry took  on  the  habit  and  gait  of  slaves.  The  voice  of  orators 
was  heard  only  in  subdued  complaints.  The  clang  of  arms  had 
ceased.  Even  the  national  harp,  that  still  retained  its  ancient 
sweetness,  though  trodden  under  foot  by  tyrants,  forgot  the  wild 
inspiration  of  Freedom,  and  only  gave  forth  plaintive  notes  when 
struck  by  the  hand  of  Despair:  — 

"Alas  for  our  country!  her  pride  has  gone  by, 

And  the  spirit  is  broken  that  never  would  bend; 
O'er  the  ruin  her  children  in  secret  must  sigh, 

For  *t  is  treason  to  love  her,  and  death  to  defend." 

If  a  hope  could  have  arisen  in  the  patriot's  heart,  it  would  have 
been  dispelled  by  a  glance  at  the  condition  of  England.  She  had 
made  ample  reprisals  in  the  West  Indies,  in  North  America,  in 
Asia,  in  Africa,  and  in  the  South  seas,  for  the  loss  of  the  thirteen 
rebellious  colonies ;  Waterloo  had  prostrated  at  her  feet  her  great 
natural  enemy;  Spain  had  entered  on  her  dotage;  Holland  had 
relinquished  her  ambition.  The  British  navy  held  almost  undis- 
puted sway  over  the  seas,  and  British  garrisons  encircled  the 
globe. 

How  mysterious  and  inscrutable  are  the  ways  of  Providence 
in  conducting  the  affairs  of  nations !  That  season  of  gloom  so 
intense,  was  the  hour  that  preceded  the  dawn  of  Irish  liberty.  It 
was  no  matter  how  wide  the  empire,  or  how  vast  the  armies  or 
navies  of  Britain,  Ireland  was  to  be  delivered  by  opinion,  not  by 
the  sword — by  the  statesman,  not  by  the  soldier. 

That  statesman  was  the  first  fruit  of  the  cautious  concessions 
concerning  property  and  education,  made  by  England  in  1778, 
and  1782.  Daniel  O'Connell,  a  Roman  Catholic,  heir-apparent 
of  Darrynane,  had  been  instructed  in  the  faith  of  his  forefathers 
and  trained  for  the  forum.  The  force  which  he  was  to  employ 
for  the  redemption  of  his  country  was  the  fruit  of  concession 
made  in  1792,  in  order  to  secure  the  act  of  union.  The  right  of 
suffrage  was  then  conferred  on  catholics  in  Ireland  having  free- 
holds of  the  annual  value  of  forty  shillings.  Then,  and  long 
afterward,  the  right  was  indeed  useless,  and  suffrage  was  yielded 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  59 

with  the  rents  due  to  the  superior  lords.  But  the  right  was 
there. 

The  political  education  of  the  Liberator  was  that  history  uf 
Ireland  whose  spirit  we  have  endeavored,  perhaps  vainly,  to 
recall.  He  had  witnessed  with  horror  the  desecration  of  liberty 
and  religion  in  France,  and  thus,  while  he  was  imbued  with  the 
purest  sentiments  of  patriotism,  he  was  not  less  firmly  established 
in  religious  principles.  He  was  never  for  a  moment  tempted  to 
divide  what  he  thought  God  had  indissolubly  combined,  religion 
and  freedom.  He  first  appeared  before  his  countrymen  at  the 
age  of  twenty-five,  at  a  meeting  of  Catholics  in  1800,  in  the  midst 
of  an  intimidating  police,  to  consider  the  act  of  union,  then  before 
the  parliament  in  College  Green.  His  speech,  which  was  "a 
great  beginning  in  so  green  an  age,"  revealed  the  principles  on 
which,  near  thirty  years  afterward,  he  worked  out  catholic  eman- 
cipation, and  brought  the  independence  of  Ireland  to  the  verge 
of  triumph.  These  principles  were  the  combination  of  those  two 
measures  and  the  union  of  the  people  of  Ireland  by  conciliation. 

"  Let  us  show,"  said  he,  "  to  every  friend  of  Ireland,  that  Catho- 
lics are  incapable  of  selling  their  country ;  that  if  their  emanci- 
pation was  offered  for  their  consent  to  the  act  of  union  (even  if 
emancipation  were  a  benefit  after  the  union),  they  would  reject 
it  with  prompt  indignation.  Let  us  show  to  Ireland  that  we 
have  nothing  in  view  but  her  good,  nothing  in  our  hearts  but  the 
desire  of  mutual  forgiveness  and  mutual  reconciliation.  Let 
every  man  who  agrees  with  me  proclaim  that  if  the  alternative 
were  offered  him  of  the  union,  or  the  re-enactment  of  the  penal 
code  in  all  its  pristine  horrors,  he  would  prefer  the  latter  as  the 
lesser  or  more  sufferable  evil ;  that  he  would  confide  in  the 
justice  of  his  brethren,  the  Protestants  of  Ireland,  rather  than  lay 
his  country  at  the  feet  of  foreigners." 

We  know  not  when  the  great  scheme  of  delivering  his  country 
first  occurred  to  O'Connell,  but  his  life  was  a  continual  prepara- 
tion for  the  enterprise. 

"  He  wandered  through  the  wrecks  of  days  departed, 
And  dwellings  of  a  race  of  mightier  men, 
And  monuments  of  less  ungentle  creeds, 
Tell  their  own  tale  to  Him  who  rightly  heeds 
The  language  which  they  speak." 


60  DISCOURSES  AND  ORATIONS. 

On  such  occasions  the  patriot  would  exclaim,  with  a  heart 
beating  loud  and  fast, 

"It  shall  be  thus  no  more.     Too  long,  too  long, 
Sons  of  the  glorious  Dead!  have  ye  lain  bound, 
In  darkness  and  in  ruin.     Hope  is  strong; 
Justice  and  Truth  their  winged  child  have  found. 
Awake !  Arise !  until  the  mighty  sound 
Of  your  career  shall  scatter  in  its  gust 
The  throne  of  the  oppressor." 

The  new  revolution  began  in  no  popular  excitement,  for  the 
people  were  roused,  not  without  long,  vehement  and  incessant 
agitation.  It  had  no  foreign  impulse.  America  was  at  rest,  and 
France,  and  even  all  Europe,  were  slumbering  in  the  arms  of 
legitimate  monarchy.  It  was  not  a  military  insurrection;  for 
sedition  had  been  tried  for  the  last  time.  It  depended  not  on 
the  Irish  people  alone,  for  they  were  nearly  powerless.  It  must 
be  effected  by  the  British  king  and  parliament,  and  they  could 
be  moved  only  by  moral  force,  or  opinion.  The  objects  of  the 
revolution  must  be  divided.  Liberty  of  conscience,  or  Catholic 
emancipation,  must  be  demanded  first.  The  independence  of 
Ireland,  or  civil  liberty,  must  be  attained  afterward.  If  both 
were  demanded  at  once,  neither  would  be  granted. 

Daniel  O'Connell  knew  that  such  a  revolution  was  possible, 
and  in  this  knowledge  excelled  his  country  and  his  age.  When 
that  knowledge  was  acquired,  he  stood  confessed  to  himself,  the 
statesman  of  the  revolution.     From  that  hour  he  expanded,  and 

"Bore  aloft  the  fame  and  fortunes  of  his  race." 

But  how  should  opinion  be  directed  with  effect  ?  Burke  and 
Fox,  Canning  and  Brougham  and  Byron,  had  pleaded  for  Catholic 
emancipation  in  the  British  senate ;  had  shown  the  absurdity, 
the  unrighteousness  and  the  inhumanity  of  the  penal  religious 
code,  and  had  demonstrated  that  it  was  only  less  ruinous  to 
Protestants  and  to  England  than  to  Catholics  and  to  Ireland.  The 
British  parliament  was  already  convinced.  Reason,  argument, 
iind  conviction,  would  not  be  enough.  The  British  government 
must  be  made  to  fear  and  tremble.  But  how  should  opinion  be 
made  so  potential? 

It  must  begin  with  Ireland,  a  country  divided  by  faction  and 
eunk  in  despair.     And  if  Ireland  should  become  unanimous,  what 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  61 

then  ?  She  had  only  twenty-seven  barons  in  the  house  of  lordsr 
while  Great  Britain  had  nearly  four  hundred.  Ireland  had  only 
one  hundred  delegates  in  the  house  of  commons,  and  not  one  true 
representative.  Great  Britain  had  five  hundred  representatives 
there.  The  church  of  England,  standing  on  the  ruins  that  were 
to  be  restored,  was  one  of  the  great  estates  of  the  empire.  Even 
if  all  these  obstacles  should  be  surmounted,  there  stood  the  king, 
pledged  and  bound,  as  he  thought,  by  his  coronation  oath,  to 
reject  the  bill  for  the  liberty  of  conscience.  But  even  the  Catho- 
lic church  and  clergy  were  not  yet  reliable.  Britain  was  con- 
tinually temporizing,  and  Rome  seemed  not  unwilling  to  com- 
promise, and  so  divide  the  Irish  people. 

The  agitator  needed,  therefore,  character  and  position  which 
would  enable  him  to  speak  with  some  show  of  authority  to  the 
people  of  Ireland.  Catholics  and  Protestants,  clergy  and  laity  — 
to  the  king,  lords,  commons,  and  people  of  England — to  Rome 
herself,  and  to  an  impartial  world. 

What  then  were  O'Connell's  character  and  position  ?  He  wTas 
a  British  subject,  a  member  of  the  Catholic  church,  and  a  lawyer 
in  the  four  courts  of  Dublin  —  merely  a  lawyer,  a  Catholic,  and  a 
subject ;  and  while  Catholics  remained  disqualified  he  could  be  no 
more  than  this. 

He  determined  to  invest  that  humble  and  obscure  character 
and  that  position  with  power  and  strength ;  and  this  power  and 
strength  were  to  be  obtained  from  the  consent  of  the  clergy  and 
of  his  countrymen. 

So  bold  a  reformer  needed  rare  powers  and  qualities,  and 
needed  them  in  extraordinary  combination.  He  must  have 
transcendent  genius  to  conceive  so  great  an  action — courage  to 
dare  the  attempt — energy  to  pursue  it — moderation  to  conciliate 
— pacific  temper  to  avoid  irritations  to  force — prudence  and 
sagacity  to  circumvent  the  strategy  of  the  adversary — sympathy 
with  Catholic  Ireland  to  be  its  organ  —  reverence  for  the  clergy  to 
gain  their  influence  —  loyalty  to  the  British  constitution  to  disarm 
those  who  converted  it  into  an  engine  of  oppression  —  ardent  and 
impulsive  eloquence  to  rouse  illiterate  and  unreflecting  masses — 
logical  acumen  and  rhetorical  power  to  confute  sophistry,  and 
convince  the  learned — tact  and  address  to  gain  coadjutors,  and 
hold  them  in  their  proper  spheres — patience  in  bearing  the  inso- 
lence of  offended  power,  and  the  timidity,  waywardness,  and 


62  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

caprice  of  popular  masses ;  and  with  all  these  he  must  combine 
a  devotion  which  would  make  the  great  enterprise  the  sole  busi- 
ness of  a  whole  life.  Providence  guards  against  the  collisions  of 
mighty  minds  by  allowing  to  exist  only  one  at  any  one  time, 
capable  of  con  ducting  a  nation  in  a  great  emergency. 

There  was  only  one  Washington  in  America,  and  there  could 
be  only  one  O'Connell  in  Ireland. 

Time  and  experience  ripened  the  Liberator.  The  bar  of  Dublin 
opposed  the  young  reformer.  He  exposed  their  mercenary  spirit 
and  cast  the  herd  behind  him.  The  corporation  of  Dublin  sent  a 
champion  who  called  him  to  the  field  of  combat.  He  slew  the 
supercilious  adversary,  and  pensioned  his  widow;  and,  mourning 
over  his  almost  involuntary  crime,  trampled  thenceforth  under 
his  feet  the  false  code  of  honor.  He  claimed  nothing  for  himself, 
and  even  less  than  an  equal  share  of  political  power  for  his 
Catholic  countrymen. 

'Non  ego,  nee  Teucris  Italos  parere  jubebo; 
Nee  mihi  regna  peto;  paribus  se  Iegibus  ambse 
Junctse  gentes  eterna  in  fcedera  mittant." 

Opposition,  oppression,  even  imprisonment,  could  not  extort 
from  him  a  breath  of  disloyalty  to  the  throne,  nor  even  to  the 
Protestant  succession.  He  maintained  inflexibly,  that  the  deliv- 
erance of  Ireland  would  be  hazarded  by  a  single  crime,  and  lost 
by  the  sacrifice  of  a  single  life.  He  detected  with  piercing  sight 
the  defects  of  laws  designed  to  counteract  the  revolution,  and 
organized  all  Ireland  on  a  basis  as  narrow  as  the  technicality  of 
a  special  plea.  Fervid  and  vehement,  he  carried  with  him  the 
passions  of  the  people,  as  a  cloud  that  covered  his  person,  when- 
ever he  discoursed  to  them  of  his  great  theme  ;  perspicacious  and 
deliberate,  he  won  the  admiration  of  mankind  by  the  profound- 
ness of  his  testimony  before  a  British  parliament  concerning  the 
evils  of  oppression.  He  waited  imperturbably  to  mature  his  prep- 
arations, and  watched  unceasingly  for  the  hour  when  his  oppo- 
nents should  be  enfeebled  by  faction.  A  lineal  descendant  of 
oppressed  generations,  and  a  living  and  majestic  mark  of  perpet- 
ual persecution  for  conscience  sake,  every  physical  and  moral 
element  of  his  constitution  confessed  the  Celtic  stock.  "  Strong 
from  the  cradle,  and  of  sturdy  brood,"  his  stature,  complexion, 
gait,  gestures,  voice,  and  attitude,  betrayed  him  for  an  Irishman 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  63 

of  unmingled  blood.  Cheerful  even  to  constant  hilarity,  and 
generous  to  self-destitution,  he  was  the  depository  of  all  the 
public  and  the  private  griefs  of  his  countrymen.  He  relieved 
their  wants  if  possible,  and,  if  impossible,  taught  them  how  to 
endure  privation.  When  they  fell  inadvertently  under  the  power 
of  the  law,  and  even  when  they  wilfully  rushed  into  its  grasp 
against  his  advice,  he  flung  himself  between  them  and  the  prose- 
cution and  Bore  them  off  in  triumph.  His  industry  and  assiduity 
never  relaxed,  although  the  cares  not  only  of  a  revolutionary 
state,  but  of  every  suffering  member  of  it,  fell  upon  his  shoulders, 
lie  scorned  allurements  to  wealth  which  might  divide  him  from 
the  people ;  subsisted  on  such  rewards  of  his  own  labors  as  could 
be  obtained  without  neglecting  Ireland;  and*  when  the  country 
required  his  exclusive  devotion,  he  rejected  pension  and  place 
offered  by  the  government,  and  with  distinguished  magnanimity 
relied  for  his  daily  support  on  the  unsolicited  and  voluntary  con- 
tributions of  his  countrymen. 

Thus  endowed,  trained,  and  disciplined,  O'Connell  found  the 
Irish  heart  an  instrument  which  answered  to  his  slightest  touch, 
for  "  he  knew  the  strings  in  which  its  music  dwelt."  He  tuned 
it  anew  to  its  ancient  themes  of  patriotism  and  piety. 

At  length  the  old  king  of  England,  after  a  long,  living  death, 
was  gathered  to  the  garner-house  of  the  grave.  An  odious  min- 
istry was  found  in  England  under  an  odious  prince.  Mendicity 
had  driven  the  artisans  and  laborers  of  England  to  mutiny.  The 
propitious  hour  for  agitation  had  come,  and  Danie1.  O'Connell 
broke  forth  before  the  world  "Monarch  of  Ireland."  He  was  a 
king  none  the  less,  though  the  "stone  of  destiny"  had'been  re- 
moved fromTara's  Hall  to  Westminster  Abbey — a  king  without 
sacerdotal  unction,  royal  descent,  election,  or  usurpation —  e,  king 
without  a  crown,  a  court,  or  guards  —  a  king  by  consent  of  clergy 
and  laity  —  a  very  king  of  seven  millions,  standing  erect  before 
the  imperial  throne,  with  power  to  levy  armies,  to  maintain  war, 
and  to  conclude  peace  —  a  king  who  could  arrest  the  laws  of 
England,  or  let  them  go  to  execution  —  a  king  who  could  keep 
his  subject  people  in  perpetual  endurance,  or  let  them  forth  at 
pleasure  to  a  carnival  of  revenge. 

O'Connell  was  no  longer  the  mere  lawyer,  subject,  and  Catholic, 
but,  retaining  all  those  characters  and  the  same  position,  his 
individuality  was  gone  :   He  was  Ireland.     The  same  Ireland  that 


61  DISCOURSES  AND  ORATIONS. 

had  slione  forth  a  beacon  of  piety,  arts,  and  learning  in  the  dark 
ages ;  the  same  Ireland  that,  though  torn  by  faction,  and  betrayed 
every  heir  by  treason,  had  resisted  the  usurpation  of  England  for 
five  hundred  years — the  same  Ireland  that  had  been  circum- 
vented into  capitulation  to  a  perfidious  king  at  Limerick,  that 
had  endv.red  the  cross,  despised  the  shame,  and  kept  the  faith 
through  the  terrors  of  the  penal  code,  that  had  slept  in  the  tomb 
with  Sarsfield,  had  revived  to  newness  of  life  under  Grattau.  and 
had  been  buried  again  by  Pitt  in  the  grave  of  the  union  —  the 
same  Ireland  revived  and  regenerated,  wearing,  indeed,  the  cere- 
cloth of  sepulture,  but  more  majestic,  more  vigorous,  and  more 
terrible  to  her  oppressors  than  ever. 

The  agency  employed  by  O'Connell  was  as  simple  and  sublime 
as  were  his  own  position  and  character.  Combination  is  inherent 
in  democratic  action.  Civil  and  military  associations  were  em- 
ployed in  1782,  and  in  the  rebellion  of  1798.  Civil  association 
was  again  tried,  but  without  effect,  in  1810.  The  government 
had  now  put  forth  all  its  skill  to  frame  laws  which  should  prevent 
combination.  There  should  be  no  military  association,  no  secret 
association,  no  representative  or  delegated  assembly,  none  that 
was  political,  and  none  to  continue  more  than  fourteen  days. 
"Nevertheless,  O'Connell  organized  and  maintained,  during  seven 
years,  a  combination  extending  over  the  island,  embracing  seven 
hundred  thousand  members,  and  receiving  £50,000  annually, 
which  violated  none  of  the  inhibitions  of  the  law,  and  vet  had  all 
the  efSoloncy  which  they  were  designed  to  prevent.  The  centre 
of  agitation  was  ultimately  Conciliation  Hall  in  Dublin,  fitted  up 
as  a  capito*.  Business  was  transacted,  and  debates  conducted 
with  lcr'&Istive  forms.  The  doors  were  open  to  every  subject 
and  publicity  was  more  effective  than  executive  secrecy. 

The  assembly  was  crowded  with  impassioned  and  sympathizing 
auditors,  who  manifested  approval  or  dissatisfaction  without  re- 
straint, while  the  speakers  were  animated  by  the  smiles  of  beaut 
from  the  galleries.  The  themes  discussed  with  all  the  genius  anc 
fervor  of  Irish  eloquence  by  O'Connell,  Shiel,  and  their  assoc^ 
ates,  were,  the  British  constitution ;  the  penal  code  ;  the  resources 
and  destiny  of  Ireland — its  condition  ;  the  value  of  liberty;  the 
evils  of  faction :  and  not  only  these,  but  the  daily  conduct  of 
government,  the  oppression  of  every  landlord,  the  grievance  of 
every  tenant,  the  insults  of  every  patrician,  the  meekness  of  ev- 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  65 

ery  plebeian ;  in  short,  whatever  tended  to  excite,  to  rouse,  and 
to  combine,  the  Irish  people.  A  journal  established  by  the  asso- 
ciation transmitted  the  debates  to  kindred  associations  in  every 
part  of  the  island,  by  whom  the  same  animating  topics  were  dis- 
cussed with  even  greater  zeal. 

Ireland  looked  with  pride  on  a  voluntary  and  self-constituted 
legislature  which  for  a  time  eclipsed  from  their  sight  the  British 
parliament.  The  enthusiasm  of  Ireland  reassured  the  advocates 
of  religious  tolerance  in  England  and  in  Europe.  And  then  ev- 
ery Irish  exile  in  America — in  its  cities,  and  fields,  and  forests 
— on  its  canals  and  rivers — returned  a  willing  and  effective  blow 
against  England.  America,  yielding  to  their  enthusiasm  and  to 
natural  impulses,  saluted  the  new  republic  of  Ireland  with  gratu- 
lations  and  contributions. 

It  seemed  as  if  one  discontented  Irish  subject  had  roused  the 
world  against  the  monarchy  of  Britain.  England  had  nothing  to 
oppose  to  the  universal  opinion  of  mankind  but  fears  which  were 
groundless,  habits  which  were  absurd,  and  prejudices  which  were 
unchristian. 

Oppression,  however,  had  not  altogether  failed  of  its  legitimate 
effects  on  the  Irish  people.  Ignorance  abounded.  Intemperance 
had  laid  its  maddening  hand  on  starving  multitudes.  There  were 
inveterate  feuds  between  the  Catholic  and  Orange  peasantry. 
The  latter  had  long  maintained  secret  associations,  and  the  for- 
mer were  often  banded  in  opposing  societies.  These  associations 
involved  Ireland  in  continual  turbulence  and  riot,  and  often  in 
scenes  of  blood :  — 

"The  Orange  beggar  spurned 
The  Papist  beggar's  hand — 
While  Freedom,  shrinking,  turned 
And  fled  the  hapless  land!" 

It  was  necessary  to  tranquillize  Ireland,  and  thus  to  prove  that 
the  people  were  capable  of  self-government.  O'Connell  invoked 
order.  AH  Ireland  was  immediately  organized  in  vast  assem- 
blies under  the  name  of  O'ConnelVs  police.  Temperance  and 
tranquillity  reigned  throughout  the  island.  In  time,  these  as- 
semblies became  a  subject  of  complaint.  O'Connell  had  but  to 
say  —  "You  wait  the  word  of  command:  I  give  it:  Halt,  dis- 
hand/" —  and  instantly  O'Connell's  police  was  resolved  into  the 
peaceful  constituency  of  the  Liberator. 

Vol.  III.— 5 


66  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

The  cause  of  emancipation  advanced  in  England,  and  a  major- 
ity in  its  favor  was  already  secured  in  the  house  of  commons. 
But  still  the  representatives  from  Ireland  gave  it  no  effective  aid. 
A  signal  blow  was  wanting,  and  that  fell  from  O'Connell's  hand, 
with  boldness,  precision,  and  effect:  — 

"  Electors  of  Clare,"  said  he,  on  the  eve  of  a  special  election, 
"  you  want  a  representative  in  parliament :  I  solicit  your  suffrages. 
True,  I  am  a  Catholic.  I  can  not,  and  of  course  I  never  will, 
take  the  oaths  prescribed.  But  the  power  which  created  those 
oaths  can  abrogate  them.  If  you  elect  me,  I  will  try  the  ques- 
tion." O'Connell  could  only  expect  to  be  elected  by  the  forty- 
shilling  freeholders,  as  they  were  called  —  tenants  of  the  land- 
lords in  Clare.  Their  votes,  by  tacit  understanding  and  unbro- 
ken usage,  belonged  to  their  lords.  Ruin  awaited  him  who 
diverted  his  suffrage.  But  there  was  now  a  power  higher  than 
the  landlord. 

You  see  a  mass  of  the  peasantry  of  Clare  issuing  from  the  little 
parish-church  on  the  hillside.  They  have  reverently  received  the 
mass  ;  but  their  steps  indicate  perturbation.  They  gather  around 
the  priest,  and  ask  his  paternal  counsel  concerning  the  hazardous 
requirement  of  O'Connell.  The  priest  lays  clown  his  missal, 
raises  his  hand  toward  heaven,  breaks  forth  in  their  own  wild 
native  language,  recites  to  them  the  story  of  their  ancient  fame, 
and  of  the  persecution  and  perfidy  of  their  conquerors ;  expati- 
ates on  their  inherent  right  of  liberty  of  conscience,  and  the  right 
and  duty  of  passive  resistance ;  on  the  sublimity  of  suffrage,  and 
the  glory  and  renown  that  are  now  breaking  in  upon  Ireland ; 
and  concludes  his  impassioned  harangue  with  the  injunction  — 
"Vote,  vote  for  O'Connell  and  freedom  !" 

It  is  now  the  election-day.  There  is  O'Connell,  depicting  the 
atrocities  of  British  persecution  with  a  noble  ardor  of  religious 
zeal.  A  band  of  tenants  are  marching  by  under  the  conduct  of 
their  landlord,  to  vote  for  the  ministerial  candidate.  They  pause  ; 
they  mingle  in  the  crowd  ;  they  listen,  and  now,  at  every  cadence 
of  the  Liberator's  voice,  redoubled  shouts  arise,  "  O'Connell  and 
freedom !" 

An  elector  is  released  from  jail  by  his  creditor  on  condition 
that  he  vote  against  O'Connell.  He  is  already  at  the  polls  —  a 
shrill  cry  is  heard  —  it  is  the  debtor's  wife  who  speaks :  "  Remem- 
ber your  soul  and  liberty !"     The  debtor  rises  to  the  majesty  of 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  67 

a  freeman,  and  declares  his  vote  for  O'Connell.  Instantly  all 
rents  in  arrear  are  paid  by  the  Catholic  Association.  The  elec- 
tor's debt  is  discharged  by  the  same  omnipresent  power,  and  that 
noble  Celtic  woman's  exclamation  becomes  the  watchword  of  all 
Ireland :  — 

"Remember  your  soul  and  liberty!" 

O'Connell  is  elected.  Let  his  illustrious  coadjutor,  Shiel,  ex- 
plain the  event.  Turning  to  the  defeated  and  confounded  adver- 
sary, he  exclaims :  — 

"  We  have  indeed  put  a  great  engine  in  motion,  and  applied 
the  entire  force  of  that  powerful  machinery  which  the  law  has 
placed  in  our  hands.  We  are  masters  of  the  passions  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  we  have  employed  our  dominion  with  a  terrible  eifect. 
Do  you  imagine  that  we  could  have  acquired  this  dreadful  ability 
to  sunder  the  strongest  ties  by  which  the  different  classes  of  so- 
ciety are  fastened,  unless  we  found  the  materials  of  excitement 
in  the  state  of  society  itself?  Do  you  think  Daniel  O'Connell 
has  himself,  and  by  the  single  power  of  his  mind,  unaided  by 
any  external  co-operation,  brought  the  country  to  this  great  cri- 
sis of  agitation  ?  O'Connell,  with  all  his  talents,  would  have  been 
utterly  powerless  and  incapable,  unless  he  had  been  allied  with 
a  great  conspirator  against  the  public  peace.  It  is  the  law  of  the 
land  itself  that  has  "been  O'Connell's  main  associate,  and  that 
ought  to  be  denounced  as  the  mighty  agitator  of  Ireland.  The 
rod  of  oppression  is  the  wand  of  this  potent  enchanter  of  the  pas- 
sions, and  the  book  of  his  spells  is  the  penal  code.  Break  the 
wand  of  this  political  Prospero,  and  take  from  him  the  volume 
of  his  magic,  and  he  will  evoke  the  spirits  which  are  now  under 
his  control  no  longer." 

What  language  could  do  justice  to  the  clergy  of  Ireland,  who, 
through  imprisonment,  banishment,  and  fire,  still  adhered  to  their 
charge ;  who  preferred  to  share  the  poverty  of  the  people  rather 
than  obtain  an  establishment  at  the  expense  of  their  liberty? 
Yenerable  ministry !  it  was  the  British  state  that  taught  you  to 
mingle  politics  with  religion.  Wisely,  faithfully,  and  in  the  fear 
of  God,  did  you  give  back  the  fruits  of  those  instructions.  It  was 
your  task  to  prove,  against  the  prejudices  of  a  skeptical  age,  that 
piety  still  dwelt  in  the  church  of  Christ,  and  that  civil  liberty 
was  cherished  in  its  sanctuaries. 

Nor  can  we  repress  our  admiration  for  the  heroic  people.     A 


68  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

division  among  them  would  have  arrested,  while  a  panic  or  an 
excusable  gust  of  passion  might  have  defeated,  Catholic  emanci- 
pation. They  proved  themselves  worthy  of  their  great  leader  by 
the  confidence  they  gave  him — worthy  of  religious  liberty  by 
practising  the  virtues  they  enjoined. 

Generous  people!  May  that  leader's  place  be  speedily  and 
worthily  filled !  May  the  way  of  your  exiles  among  us  be 
smooth  and  pleasant,  and  your  long-suffering  patience  be  early 
crowned  by  the  restoration  of  your  country  to  enduring  inde- 
pendence ! 

Clare  was  a  part  of  that  Connaught  which  had  been  the  city 
of  refuge  for  Catholic  Ireland.  Clare  was  the  Yorktown  of  the 
Irish  revolution.  O'Connell  was  the  representative  of  Clare,  and 
not  only  of  Clare,  but  of  Catholic  Ireland.  He  was  an  elected 
representative,  obliged  by  English  laws  to  stand  outside  the  bar 
of  the  British  commons.  Ireland  felt  the  importance  of  his  posi- 
tion. Ireland,  by  the  act  of  union  a  member  of  the  British  em- 
pire, is  going  up  to  London  in  the  person  of  O'Connell,  to  demand 
her  constitutional  place  in  the  councils  of  the  British  king  —  to 
demand  from  that  king  religious  liberty.  How  potent  is  the  atti- 
tude of  peaceful,  passive  resistance!  how  vast  the  power  that 
Virtue  derives  from  Persecution!  O'Connell  is  now  the  most 
majestic  figure  in  the  world. 

The  British  ministry  advise  the  king  that  Catholic  emancipa- 
tion can  no  longer  be  resisted.  All  that  remains  is  to  grant  it  by 
law,  not  to  concede  it  by  seeming  treaty — to  emancipate  Catho- 
lic Ireland  before  her  representative  can  reach  the  capitol,  and 
to  save  wounded  pride  by  denying  O'Connell  the  seat  to  which 
he  has  been  elected,  and  by  disfranchising  the  refractory  peas- 
antry of  Ireland. 

And  this  is  done.  But  the  wound  given  to  British  pride  must 
rankle  nevertheless ;  for  faithful  Clare,  though  its  peasantry  are 
disfranchised,  returns  the  Liberator  by  acclamation. 

O'Connell  as  a  senator  followed  up  the  act  of*  emancipation  by 
successful  measures  to  modify  the  tithes  of  the  established  church 
in  Ireland,  to  open  the  close  corporations  of  the  realm,  and  to 
establish  a  system  of  equal  and  universal  education  in  his  native 
country  ;  while  he  lent  to  the  English  reformers  efficient  and  in- 
dispensable aid  in  the  repeal  of  the  corn-laws,  which  established 
a  more  beneficent  system  of  revenue,  and  in  that  reform  of  par- 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  69 

liament  which  is  gradually  bringing  forward  a  new  and  better 
constitution  for  the  United  Kingdom. 

These  beneficent  labors  did  not  for  a  moment  divert  him  from 
the  great  object  which  remained  —  the  restoration  of  the  inde- 
pendence of  Ireland  by  a  repeal  of  the  act  of  union. 

His  wand  had  still  all  its  virtue,  and  he  seized  on  the  statute 
of  usurpation  in  the  place  of  his  former  volume  of  magic,  the 
penal  code.  Yet  he  waited  the  slow  but  sure  return  of  popular 
impressibility  at  home,  and  of  despotic  weakness  at  St.  James. 
The  Catholic  Association  became  a  "  precursor"  of  repeal.  Ten 
years  were  spent  in  diffusing  knowledge  among  the  people,  and 
then  commenced  the  ever-memorable  agitation  for  the  abrogation 
of  the  act  of  union.  Under  the  auspices  of  the  Loyal  National  Re- 
peal  Association  in  Conciliation  Hall,  all  Ireland  petitioned  the  Brit- 
ish parliament  for  repeal  —  of  course  without  effect.  Representa- 
tives were  returned  from  many  districts  demanding  repeal,  but  all 
parties  in  England  were  unmoved.  The  British  government  main- 
tained that  the  sufferings  of  Ireland  were  exaggerated,  that  the  clam- 
or for  repeal  was  factitious,  and  that  the  people  were  contented  and 
prosperous.  Then  the  agitator  determined  to  exhibit  Ireland  as 
she  was  at  home  to  her  proud  rulers  in  England.  He  called  the 
people  forth,  and  they  came  in  vast  assemblies,  such  masses  of 
men  destitute  of  the  blessings  of  Providence  as  were  never  be- 
fore congregated — as  could  not  be  convened  in  any  well-gov- 
erned land  —  such  masses,  therefore,  as  could  not  be  looked  upon 
by  their  oppressors  without  shame  and  fear.  His  voice  went 
forth  among  his  humble,  heart-broken  countrymen  like  a  harbin- 
ger of  happier  homes  and  days  of  freedom.  They  came  up  to 
meet  him  —  ten  thousand  at  Slievrue  ;  twenty  thousand  at  Trim, 
at  Bellewestown,  at  Rathkeale,  and  at  Dunlea;  thirty  thousand 
at  Cahircornlish;  fifty  thousand  at  Clones,  at  Caltra,  at  Ballana- 
kill,  and  at  Inishowen  ;  sixty  thousand  at  Croon ;  seventy  thou- 
sand at  the  Curragh  of  Kildare ;  one  hundred  thousand  at  Lim- 
erick, the  scene  of  English  perfidy — at  Kells,  at  Carrickmacross, 
at  Mullingar,  at  Sligo,  at  Drogheda,  at  Murroe,  at  Athlone,  at 
Tullamore,  at  Clifden,  at  Baltinglass,  and  at  Donnybrook ;  two 
hundred  thousand  at  Longford,  at  Galway,  at  Mount  Mellick, 
and  at  Roscommon ;  three  hundred  thousand  at  Charleville,  at 
.Kilkenny,  at  Dundalk,  at  Tuam,  at  Mayo,  at  Clontebret,  and  at 
Loughrea ;  four  hundred  thousand  at  Cashel,  at  Nenagh,  at  Mai- 


70  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES.  • 

low,  at  Skibbereen,  at  Lismore,  and  at  Mullaghmast ;  half  a  mil- 
lion at  Enniscortby  ;  seven  hundred  thousand  in  brave  old  Clare  ; 
and  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  on  Tara's  revered  hill ! 

These  multitudes  came  unarmed,  without  the  inspiring  notes 
of  martial  music,  on  foot  and  without  provision  for  a  day's  jour- 
ney, temperate  and  tranquil,  nay,  cheerful,  for  their  hearts  were 
full  of  love  even  to  England's  youthful  queen,  and  they  were  ani- 
mated with  hopes  new  born  in  the  promises  of  their  chief.  They 
exposed  their  penury;  they  petitioned  England;  they  resolved 
never  to  cease  petitioning,  until  their  freedom  should  be  granted, 
and  then  dispersed,  leaving  the  scenes  of  their  assemblages  as 
quiet  and  undisturbed  as  the  bosoms  of  their  lakes.  The  British 
government  could  not  look,  the  people  of  England  could  not  bear 
to  look,  at  Ireland  in  this  piteous  attitude.  They  affected  fear  — 
fear  for  what?  Not  of  invasion  —  not  even  of  insurrection  —  not 
even  of  sedition  ;  but  fear  that  the  laws  of  the  realm  might  be 
changed  by  means  of  demonstrations  of  physical,  unarmed  force  ! 
A  great  meeting  was  yet  to  be  assembled  at  Clontarf,  memorable  for 
the  defeat  even  of  the  conquerors  of  England  by  Brian  Borhoime, 
on  the  Irish  coast  where  it  looks  off  on  Britain.  The  viceroy  for- 
bids the  meeting  at  Clontarf,  and  denounces  the  severest  punish- 
ment. Armed  and  naval  forces  beset  the  place  in  hopes  of  resist- 
ance, that  the  war  against  a  ruined  people  may  begin. 

O'Connell  countermands  the  assemblage.  England  has  in- vain 
provoked  a  people  prone  to  war.  The  country  is  saved  from  dire 
calamity.  Ireland  may  not  even  petition  under  the  British  con- 
stitution too  rudely  or  too  earnestly.  Baffled  in  the  design  of 
plunging  the  country  into  civil  war,  the  government  now  prose- 
cute for  sedition  O'Connell  and  six  associates  — 


rho  di 


Their  leader's  glory  and  his  danger  share." 

A  jury  is  packed  by  excluding  from  the  panel  every  Catholic  and 
every  patriot.  Ireland  comes  out  from  her  hills  and  her  valleys, 
to  look  upon  a  cause  in  which  she  is  herself  on  trial  before  an 
Anglo-Irish  jury  in  a  court  of  the  Pale.  The  venal  court  extort 
the  desired  verdict,  and  now  Ireland  may  no  longer  petition. 
Her  own  jury  has  condemned  her  in  her  own  capital. 

On  the  30th  of  May,  1844,  Daniel  O'Connell  — who  had  pre- 
served the  peace  of  Ireland  for  thirty  years  —  who  had  renewed 


DANIEL  O'CONNELL.  71 

her  fidelity  to  the  British  constitution  and  to  the  British  throne 
—  who  had  given  liberty  of  conscience  to  the  British  empire- — 
who  had  peacefully  brought  his  native  country  again  to  the  verge 
of  independence  — of  that  very  independence  which  sixty-two 
years  before  had  been  conceded  to  her  as  unquestioned  and  un- 
questionable—  Daniel  O'Connell,  the  truest  Briton  and  the  no- 
blest statesman  of  the  age,  on  the  very  border  of  threescore  and 
ten  years,  was  consigned  to  prison  b}'  a  jury  of  his  own  country- 
men, constituted  of  traitors,  by  a  subversion  of  the  common  law, 
for  the  offence  of  exercising  his  constitutional  right  as  a  subject 
to  petition  the  rulers  of  the  empire  for  a  repeal  of  an  act  of  par- 
liament. 

When  will  the  crimes  of  the  aristocracy  of  the  English  Pale 
have  an  end  ?  When  shall  the  world  cease  to  hear  with  horror 
the  mention  of  a  jury  of  Dublin  ?  It  was  a  jury  of  Dublin  that 
sent  Emmett  and  Fitzgerald  to  the  scaffold  ! 

Had  such  a  conviction  happened  in  Paris,  the  prison  would 
have  been  razed  to  the  ground,  and  the  jurors  torn  limb  from 
limb.  But  this  new  act  of  tyranny  wrought  no  other  change  on 
O'Connell,  or  on  the  people  of  Ireland,  than  to  increase  their  mu- 
tual devotion.  They  obeyed  all  his  peaceful  mandates,  issued 
from  his  prison  ;  and,  when  the  illegal  judgment  was  reversed, 
received  him  with  increased  affection  at  its  doors  and  conducted 
him  abroad  as  a  conqueror.  Nothing  had  been  lost  by  Ireland, 
and  the  government  had  only  suppressed  one  of  the  thousand 
agencies  of  Freedom.  England  had  added  to  her  causes  for  hating 
Ireland  the  remembrance  of  another  crime  against  her,  perpe- 
trated in  vain. 

The  revolution  was  just  recovering  from  this  brief  recoil,  when 
a  blight  fell  on  the  only  food  that  the  aristocracy  of  England  had 
left  for  the  subsistence  of  the  Irish  people.  Agitation  ceased, 
and  the  jar  of  political  elements  was  hushed  before  the  fearful 
presence  of  Famine.  Perhaps  this  last  desolation  was  necessary 
to  convince  the  government  and  the  people  of  Great  Britain  of 
the  solemn  and  mighty  import  of  O'Connell's  words :  "  The  cause 
of  all  the  afflictions  of  Ireland  is,  that  we  have  not  been  allowed 
to  govern  our  own  country." 

Perhaps  his  death  was  necessary  to  conciliate  her  oppressors. 
Certainly  such  a  visitation  and  such  a  death  were  a  fitting  end 
for  the  woes  of  the  Irish  people. 


72  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

The  independence  of  the  Irish  nation,  although  future,  is  not 
distant.  Its  righteousness  arid  its  necessity  have  been  demon- 
strated. The  spirit  of  the  people  is  changed.  They  can  not  again 
relapse.  England,  too,  with  a  reformed  parliament  and  a  falling 
aristocracy,  is  no  longer  the  England  of  the  twelfth,  the  sixteenth, 
and  of  the  eighteenth  centuries.  Political  Economy  wTill  unite 
with  Political  Philosophy  in  enabling  Ireland  to  retrieve  her 
prosperity,  and  that  can  be  effected  only  by  allowing  her  a  dis- 
tinct legislature. 

We  may  not  doubt  that  the  appalling  distress  of  the  Irish  peo- 
ple bowed  down  the  otherwise  unbending  mind  of  O'Connell. 
Sorrow  for  afflictions  that  he  had  hoped  in  vain  to  avert,  and  that 
he  could  not  alleviate  or  soothe,  brought  on  quick-coming  because 
long-procrastinated  age.  O'Connell  died  like  Anchises,  in  a  for- 
eign land,  winning  the  favor  of  men,  and  propitiating  Heaven 
with  prayers  and  sacrifices  for  the  restoration  of  his  people. 

What  shall  be  his  rank  among  the  benefactors  of  mankind  ? 
We  pause  not  a  moment  to  disperse  the  calumnies  that  followed 
him  to  the  grave.  They  were  but  tributes  to  his  greatness,  yielded 
by  ungenerous  minds  —  for  it  is  thus  that  Providence  compels 
the  unjust  to  honor  virtue. 

O'Connell  left  his  mighty  enterprise  unfinished.  So  did  the 
founder  of  the  Hebrew  state  ;  so  did  Cato  ;  so  did  Hampden ;  so 
did  Emmett  and  Fitzgerald.  Will  their  epitaphs  be  less  sublime 
by  reason  of  the  long  delay  which  intervenes  before  they  can  be 
written?  The  heroic  man  conceives  great  enterprises  and  labors 
to  complete  them.  "  Success  he  hopes,  and  fate  he  can  not  fear." 
It  is  God  that  sets  the  limits  to  human  life,  and  the  bounds  to 
human  achievement. 

But  has  not  O'Connell  done  more  than  enough  for  fame  ?  On 
the  lofty  brow  of  Monticello,  under  a  green  old  oak,  is  a  block 
of  granite,  and  underneath  are  the  ashes  of  Jefferson.  Read  the 
epitaph — it  is  the  sage's  claim  to  immortality  :  — 

"  Author  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and  of  the  Stat- 
ute for  Religious  Liberty." 

Stop  now  and  write  an  epitaph  for  Daniel  O'Connell:  — 

"  He  gave  Liberty  of  Conscience  to  Europe,  and  renewed  the 
Revolutions  of  the  Kingdoms  toward  Universal  Freedom,  which 
had  begun  in  America  and  had  been  arrested  by  the  anarchy  of 
France." 


DA.NIEL  O'CONNELL.  73 

Let  the  statesmen  of  tlie  age  read  that  epitaph  and  be  humble. 
Let  the  kings  and  aristocracies  of  the  earth  read  it  and  tremble. 

Who  has  ever  accomplished  so  much  for  human  freedom,  with 
means  so  feeble  ?  Who  but  he  has  ever  given  liberty  to  a  people 
by  the  mere  utterance  of  his  voice,  without  an  army,  navy,  or 
revenues  —  without  a  sword,  a  spear,  or  even  a  shield? 

Who  but  he  ever  subverted  tyranny,  and  saved  the  lives  of  the 
oppressed,  and  yet  spared  the  oppressor? 

Who  but  he  ever  detached  from  a  venerable  constitution  a  col- 
umn of  aristocracy,  dashed  it  to  the  earth,  and  yet  left  the  ancient 
fabric  stronger  and  more  beautiful  than  before  ? 

Who  but  he  has  ever  lifted  up  seven  millions  of  people  from 
the  debasement  of  ages  to  the  dignity  of  freedom,  without  exact- 
ing an  ounce  of  gold  or  wasting  the  blood  of  one  human  heart? 

Whose  voice  yet  lingers  like  O'Connell's  in  the  ear  of  tyrants, 
making  them  sink  with  fear  of  change,  and  in  the  ear  of  the  most 
degraded  slaves  on  earth  awaking  hopes  of  freedom? 

Who  before  him  has  brought  the  schismatics  of  two  centuries 
together,  conciliating  them  at  the  altar  of  universal  liberty? 
Who  but  he  ever  brought  Papal  Rome  and  Protestant  America 
to  burn  incense  together  ? 

It  was  O'Connell's  mission  to  teach  mankind  that  Liberty  was 
not  estranged  from  Christianity,  as  was  proclaimed  by  revolu- 
tionary France;  that  she  was  not  divorced  from  law  and  public 
order;  that  she  was  not  a  demon  like  Moloch,  requiring  to  be 
propitiated  with  the  blood  of  human  sacrifice  ;  that  Democracy  is 
the  daughter  of  Peace,  and  like  true  religion  worketh  by  love. 

I  see  in  Catholic  emancipation,  and  in  the  repeal  of  the  act  of 
union  between  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  only  incidents  of  an 
all-pervading  phenomenon  —  a  phenomenon  of  mighty  interest, 
but  not  portentous  of  evil.  It  is  the  universal  dissolution  of  mo- 
narchical and  aristocratical  governments,  and  the  establishment 
of  pure  democracies  in  their  place. 

I  know  this  change  must  come,  for  even  the  menaced  govern- 
ments feel  and  confess  it.  I  know  that  it  will  be  resisted,  for  it  is 
not  in  the  nature  of  power  to  relax.  It  is  a  fearful  inquiry,  '  How 
shall  that  change  be  passed?  Shall  there  never  be  an  end  to  de- 
vastation and  carnage?  Is  every  step  of  human  progress  in  the 
future,  as  in  the  past,  to  be  marked  by  blood  ?  Must  the  nations 
of  the  earth,  after  groaning  for  ages  under  vicious  institutions 


74  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

established  without  their  consent,  wade  through  deeper  seas  to 
reach  that  condition  of  more  perfect  liberty  to  which  they  are  so 
rapidly,  so  irresistibly  impelled  ?  Or  shall  they  be  able,  notwith- 
standing involuntary  ignorance  and  debasement  contracted  with- 
out their  fault,  and  notwithstanding  the  blind  resistance  of  des- 
potism, to  change  their  forms  of  government  by  slow  and  meas- 
ured degrees,  without  entirely  or  all  at  once  subverting  them, 
and  from  time  to  time  to  repair  their  ancient  constitutions  so  as  to 
adapt  them  peacefully  to  the  progress  of  the  age,  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge,  the  cultivation  of  virtue,  and  the  promotion  of  hap- 
piness?' 

When  that  crisis  shall  come,  the  colossal  fabric  or  the  British 
empire  will  have  given  way  under  its  always-accumulating  weight. 
I  see  England  then,  in  solitude  and  in  declining  greatness,  as  Home 
was  when  her  provinces  were  torn  away  —  as  Spain  now  is  since 
the  loss  of  the  Indies.  I  see  Ireland,  invigorated  by  the  severe 
experience  of  a  long  though  peaceful  revolution,  extending  her 
arms  east  and  west  in  fraternal  embrace  toward  new  rising  states  ; 
her  resources  restored  and  improved  ;  her  people  prosperous  and 
happy,  and  her  institutions  again  shedding  the  lights  of  piety,, 
art,  and  freedom,  over  the  world.  Then  I  see  among  the  per- 
plexed and  disturbed  nations  the  now  proud  and  all-conquering 
Anglo-Saxons  looking  up  to  the  regenerated  Celtic  people  for 
guidance  and  protection. 

Come  forward,  then,  ye  nations  who  are  trembling  between  the 
dangers  of  anarchy  and  the  pressure  of  despotism,  and  hear  a 
voice  that  addresses  the  Liberator  of  Ireland  from  the  caverns  of 
Silence  where  Prophecy  is  born  :  — 

"To  thee,  now  sainted  spirit, 


Patriarch  of  a  wide-spreading  family, 
Remotest  lands  and  unborn  times  shall  turn 

Whether  they  would  restore  or  build.  To  thee! 
as  one  who  rightly  taught  how  Zeal  should  burn ; 
As  one  who  drew  from  out  Faith's  holiest  urn 

The  purest  streams  of  patient  energy.11 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  75 


rHE 


JOHN   QUINCY   ADAMS. 

"We  are  in  the  midst  of  extraordinary  events.  British-American 
civilization  and  Spanish-American  society  have  come  into  collis- 
ion, each  in  its  fullest  maturity.  The  armies  of  the  north  have 
penetrated  the  chapparels  at  Palo  Alto  and  Kesaca  de  la  Palma — 
passed  the  fortresses  of  Monterey,  and  rolled  back  upon  the  heart 
of  Mexico  the  unavailing  tide  of  strong  resistance  from  the 
mountain-side  of  Buena  Yista.  Martial  colonists  are  encamped 
on  the  coasts  of  California,  while  San  Juan  d'Ulloa  has  fallen, 
and  the  invaders  have  swept  the  gorge  of  Cerro  Gordo  —  carried 
Perote  and  Puebla,  and  planted  the  banner  of  burning  stars,  and 
ever-multiplying  stripes  on  the  towers  of  the  city  of  the  Aztecs. 

The  thirtieth  Congress  assembles  in  this  conjuncture,  and  the 
debates  are  solemn,  earnest,  and  bewildering.  Interest,  Passion, 
Conscience,  Freedom,  and  Humanity,  all  have  their  advocates. 
Shall  new  loans  and  levies  be  granted  to  prosecute  still  further  a 
war  so  glorious?  or  shall  it  be  abandoned?  Shall  we  be  content 
with  the  humiliation  of  the  foe?  or  shall  we  complete  his  subju- 
gation? Would  that  severity  be  magnanimous,  or  even  just? 
Nay,  is  the  war  itself  just?  Who  provoked,  and  by  what  unpar- 
donable offence,  this  disastrous  strife  between  two  eminent 
republics,  so  scandalous  to  democratic  institutions?  Where  shall 
we  trace  anew  the  ever-advancing  line  of  our  empire?  t Shall  it 
be  drawn  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande,  or  on  the  summit  of 
the  Sierra  Madre?  or  shall  Mexican  independence  be  extin- 
guished, and  our  eagle  close  his  adventurous  pinions  only  when 
he  looks  off  upon  the  waves  that  separate  us  from  the  Indies  ? 
Does  Freedom  own  and  accept  our  profuse  oblations  of  blood,  or 

Note. — John  Quincy  Adams  died  at  Washington,  on  the  28d  of  February,  1848. 
Mi  Seward  was  l.vited  by  the  legislature  of  the  state  of  New  York,  to  deliver  a 
evuosry  on  the  deceased,  before  that  body.  He  accepted  the  invitation,  and,  on  the 
6th  of  April,  184<5,  delivered  this  oration  in  the  capitol  at  Albany. 


76  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

does  she  reject  the  sacrifice?  Will  these  conquests  extend  her 
domain,  or  will  they  be  usurped  by  ever-grasping  slavery? 
What  effect  will  this  new-born  ambition  have  upon  ourselves? 
Will  it  leave  us  the  virtue  to  continue  the  career  of  social  prog- 
ress ?  How  shall  we  govern  the  conquered  people  ?  Shall  we 
incorporate  their  mingled  races  with  ourselves,  or  shall  we  rule 
them  with  the  despotism  of  pro-consular  power?  Can  we  pre- 
serve these  remote  and  hostile  possessions,  in  any  way,  without 
forfeiting  our  own  blood-bought  heritage  of  freedom? 

Steam  and  lightning,  which  have  become  docile  messengers, 
make  the  American  people  listeners  to  this  high  debate,  and 
anxiety  and  interest,  intense,  and  universal,  absorb  them  all. 
Suddenly  the  council  is  dissolved.  Silence  is  in  the  capitol,  and 
sorrow  has  thrown  its  pall  over  the  land.  What  new  event  is 
this?  Has  some  Cromwell  closed  the  legislative  chambers?  or 
has  some  Csesar,  returning  from  his  distant  conquests,  passed  the 
Rubicon,  seized  the  purple,  and  fallen  in  the  senate  beneath  the 
swords  of  self-appointed  executioners  of  his  country's  vengeance  ? 
No !  Nothing  of  all  this.  What  means,  then,  this  abrupt  and 
fearful  silence?  What  unlooked  for  calamity  has  quelled  the 
debates  of  the  senate  and  calmed  the  excitement  of  the  people  ? 
An  old  man,  whose  tongue  once  indeed  was  eloquent,  but  now, 
through  age,  had  well  nigh  lost  its  cunning,  has  fallen  into  the 
swoon  of  death.  He  had  not  been  an  actor  in  the  drama  of 
conquest — nor  had  his  feeble  voice  yet  mingled  in  the  lofty 
Argument  — 

"A  gray-haired  sire,  whose  eye  intense 
Was  on  the  visioned  future  bent." 

And  now  he  has  dreamed  out  at  last  the  troubled  dream  of  life. 
Sighs  of  unavailing  grief  ascend  to  heaven.  Panegyric,  fluent 
in  long-stifled  praise,  performs  its  office.  The  army  and  the  navy 
pay  conventional  honors,  with  the  pomp  of  national  wo,  and 
then  the  hearse  moves  onward.  It  rests  appropriately  on  its 
way  in  the  hall  where  independence  was  proclaimed,  and  again 
under  the  dome  where  freedom  was  born.  At  length  the  tomb 
of  John  Adams  opens  to  receive  a  son,  who  also,  born  a  subject 
of  a  king,  had  stood  as  a  representative  of  his  emancipated 
country,  before  principalities  and  powers,  and  had  won  by  merit, 
and  worn  without  reproach,  the  honors  of  the  republic. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 


77 


From  that  scene  so  impressive  in  itself,  and  so  impressive  be- 
cause it  has  never  happened  before,  and  can  never  happen  again,, 
we  have  come  up  to  this  place  surrounded  with  the  decent 
drapery  of  public  mourning,  on  a  day  set  apart  by  authority,  to 
recite  the  history  of  the  citizen  who,  in  the  ripeness  of  age  and 
fullness  of  honors,  has  thus  descended  to  his  rest.  It  is  fit  to  do 
so,  because  it  is  by  such  exercises  that  nations  regenerate  their 

73*  All  nations  must 

constitutions,  or 

fe,te  ours  than  now, 

1  policy  of  peace 

martial  renown. 

ntutions,  in  all  their 

r^ey  have  become 

eral  dissolution  of 


that  opens  no  new 
>  no  undiscovered 
:hat  sheds  marvel- 

Jjnd  know,  and  yet 
1  character  before 
ourage,  assiduity, 
native  talent  and 

Ibrals  as  in  nature, 


lineage ;   in  the 


the  circumstances 


78  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

or  die  —  survive  or  perish  with  my  country,  is  my  unalterable 
determination."  A  mother  fervently  pious,  and  eminent  in  intel- 
lectual gifts,  directed  with  more  than  maternal  assiduity  and 
solicitude  the  education  of  him  who  was  to  render  her  own  name 
immortal.  Never  quite  divorced  from  home,  yet  twice,  and  for 
long  periods  in  his  youth  a  visiter  in  Europe,  he  enjoyed  always 
the  parental  discipline  of  one  of  the  founders  of  the  American 
state,  and  often  the  daily  conversation  of  Franklin  and  Jefferson ; 
and  combined  travel  in  France,  Spain,  England,  Holland,  Den- 
mark, Sweden,  and  Russia,  and  even  diplomatic  experience,  with 
the  instructions  of  the  schools  of  Paris,  of  the  University  at  Ley- 
den,  and  of  Harvard  University  at  Cambridge ;  and  all  these 
influences  fell  upon  him  at  a  period  when  his  country,  then 
opening  the  way  to  human  liberty  through  trials  of  fire,  fixed  the 
attention  of  mankind. 

The  establishment  of  the  republic  of  the  United  States  of 
America  is  the  most  important  secular  event  in  the  history  of  the 
human  race.  It  did  not  disentangle  the  confused  theory  of  the 
origin  of  the  government,  but  cut  through  the  bonds  of  power 
existing  by  prescription  at  a  blow ;  and  thus  directly  and  imme- 
diately affected  the  opinions  and  the  actions  of  men  in  every  part 
of  the  civilized  world.  It  animated  them  everywhere  to  seek 
freedom  from  despotic  power,  and  aristocratic  restraint.  When- 
ever and  wherever  they  have  since  moved,  either  by  peaceful 
agitation  or  by  physical  force,  to  meliorate  systems  of  government, 
whether  in  France  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  or  afterward 
on  the  second  subversion  of  the  elder  branch  of  the  Bourbons,  or 
in  the  recent  overthrow  of  the  constitutional  king,  or  in  Ireland, 
or  in  England,  or  in  Italy,  or  in  Greece,  or  in  South  America, 
whether  they  succeeded  or  failed,  there  in  the  tumult  or  in  the 
strife  was  the  spirit  of  the  American  Revolution.  "  It  gave  an 
example  of  a  great  people,  not  merely  emancipating  themselves, 
but  governing  themselves,  without  either  a  monarch  to  control, 
or  an  aristocracy  to  restrain  them ;  and  it  demonstrated  for  the 
first  time  in  the  history  of  the  world,  contrary  to  the  predictions 
and  theories  of  speculative  philosophy,  that  a  great  nation,  when 
duly  prepared,  is  capable  of  self-government  by  purely  republican 
institutions." 

But  the  establishment  of  the  American  republic  was  too  great 
an  achievement  to  be  made  all  at  once.     It  was  a  drama  of  five 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  79 

grand  acts,  eacli  of  which  filled  a  considerable  period,  and  called 
upon  the  s',age,  actors  of  peculiar  powers  and  distinguished 
virtues.  Those  acts  were,  colonization,  preparation,  revolution, 
organization,  consolidation- 
Two  of  these  acts  were  closed  before  John  Quincy  Adams  was 
born.  The  third,  the  revolution,  the  shortest  of  them  all,  dazzles 
the  contemplation  by  the  rapidity  and  the  martial  character  of 
its  incidents.  The  fourth,  the  organization  of  the  government, 
by  the  splendors  of  genius  elicited,  and  the  felicity  of  the  new 
form  of  government  presented,  satisfies  the  superficial  inquirer 
that,  when  the  constitution  had  been  adopted,  nothing  remained 
to  perfect  the  great  achievement.  But  other  nations  have  had 
successful  revolutions,  and  have  set  up  free  constitutions,  and 
have,  nevertheless,  sunk  again  under  reinvigorated  despotism. 
The  consolidation  of  the  American  republic,  the  crowning  act. 
occupied  forty  years,  reaching  from  1789  to  1829.  During  that 
period,  John  Quincy  Adams  participated  continually  in  public 
affairs,  and  ultimately  became  the  principal  actor. 

The  new  government  was  purely  an  experiment.  In  opposition 
to  fixed  habits  of  mankind,  it  established  suffrage  practically 
universal,  and  representation  so  perfect  that  not  one  legislative 
house  only,  but  both  houses ;  not  legislative  officers  only,  but  all 
officers,  executive,  ministerial,  and  even  judicial,  were  directly 
or  indirectly  elected  by  the  people.  The  longest  term  of  the 
senatorial  trust  was  but  six  years,  and  the  shortest  only  two,  and 
even  the  tenure  of  the  executive  power  was  only  four  years. 
This  •  government,  betraying  so  much  popular  jealousy,  was 
invested  with  only  special  and  limited  sovereignty.  The  conduct 
of  merely  municipal  affairs  was  distributed  within  the  states, 
among  governments  even  more  popular  than  the  federal  struc- 
ture, and  without  whose  ever-renewed  support  that  structure 
must  fall. 

The  government  thus  constituted,  so  new,  so  complex,  and  arti- 
ficial, was  to  be  consolidated,  in  the  midst  of  difficulties  at  home, 
and  of  dangers  abroad.  The  constitution  had  been  adopted  only 
upon  convictions  of  absolute  necessity,  and  with  evanescent  dis- 
positions of  compromise.  By  nearly  half  of  the  people  it  was 
thought  too  feeble  to  sustain  itself,  and  secure  the  rights  for  which 
governments  are  instituted  among  men.  By  as  many  it  was 
thought  liable  to  be  converted  into  an  over-shadowing  despotism, 


80  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

more  formidable  and  more  odious  than  the  monarchy  which  had 
been  subverted.  These  conflicting  opinions  revealed  themselves 
in  like  discordance  upon  every  important  question  of  adminis- 
tration, and  were  made  the  basis  of  parties,  which  soon  became 
jealous  and  irreconcilable,  and  ultimately  inveterate  and  even  in 
some  degree  disloyal. 

^  These  domestic  feuds  were  aggravated  by  pernicious  influences 
from  Europe.  In  the  progress  of  western  civilization,  the  nations 
of  the  earth  had  become  social.  The  new  republic  could  not, 
like  the  Celestial  empire,  or  that  of  Japan,  confine  itself  within 
its  own  boundaries,  and  exist  without  national  intercourse.  It 
had  entered  the  family  of  nations.  But  the  position  it  was  to 
assume,  and  the  advantages  it  was  to  be  allowed  to  enjoy,  were 
yet  to  be  ascertained  and  fixed.  Its  independence,  confessed  to 
be  only  a  doubtful  experiment  at  home,  was  naturally  though":, 
ephemeral  in  Europe.  Its  example  was  ominous,  and  the  Euro- 
pean powers  willingly  believed  that,  if  discountenanced  and 
baffled,  America  would  soon  relapse  into  colonial  subi ligation. 
Such  prejudices  were  founded  in  the  fixed  habits  of  society. 
Not  only  the  thirteen  colonies,  but  the  whole  American  hemi- 
sphere, had  been  governed  by  European  states  from  the  period  of 
Us  discovery.  The  very  soil  belonged  to  the  transatlantic  mon 
archs  by  discovery,  or  by  ecclesiastical  gift.  Dominion  over  it 
attached  by  divine  right  to  their  persons,  and  drew  after  it  obli- 
gations of  inalienable  allegiance  upon  those  who  became  the  in- 
habitante  of  the  new  world.  The  new  world  was  indeed  divided 
oetween  dilferent  powers,  but  the  system  of  government  was 
3very  where  the  same.  It  was  administered  for  the  benefit  of  the 
parental  state  alone.  Each  power  prohibited  all  foreign  trade 
with  its  colonies,  and  all  intercourse  between  them  and  other 
plantations,  supplied  its  colonies  with  what  they  needed  from 
abroad,  interdicted  their  manufactures,  and  monopolized  their 
trade.  The  prevalence  of  this  system  over  the  whole  continent 
of  America  and  the  adjacent  islands,  prevented  all  enterprise  in 
the  colonies,  discouraged  all  improvement,  and  retarded  their 
progress  to  independence. 

The  American  Revolution  sundered  these  bonds  only  so  .far  as 
they  confined  thirteen  of  the  British  colonies,  and  left  the  remain- 
ing British  dominions,  and  the  continent  from  Georgia  around 
Cape  Horn  to  the  Northern  ocean,  under  the  same  thraldom  as 


I 

JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  81 

before.  Even  the  United  States  had  attained  only  physical 
independence.  The  moral  influences  of  the  colonial  •system 
oppressed  them  still.  Their  trade,  their  laws,  their  science,  their 
literature,  their  social  connections,  their  ecclesiastical  relations, 
their  manners  and  their  habits  were  still  colonial ;  and  their 
thoughts  continually  clung  around  the  ancient  and  majestic  states 
of  the  eastern  continent. 

The  American  Revolution,  so  happily  concluded  here,  broke 
out  in  France  simultaneously  with  the  beginning  of  Washington's 
administration.  The  French  nation  passed,  in  fifteen  years,  from 
absolute  despotism  under  Louis  XVI.  through  all  the  phases  of 
democracy  to  a  military  despotism  under  Napoleon  Bonaparte ; 
and  retained  through  all  these  changes,  only  two  characteristics 
— unceasing  ferocity  of  faction,  and  increasing  violence  of  aggres- 
sion against  foreign  states.  The  scandal  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion fell  back  upon  the  United  States  of  America,  who  were 
regarded  as  the  first  disturbers  of  the  ancient  social  system.  The 
principal  European  monarchs  combined,  under  the  guidance  of 
England,  to  arrest  the  presumptuous  career  of  France,  and  extir- 
pate democracy  by  the  sword.  Nevertheless,  the  republican 
cause,  however  odious  in  Europe,  was  our  national  cause.  The 
sympathies  of  a  large  portion  of  the  American  people,  could  not 
be  withdrawn  from  the  French  nation ;  which  always  claimed, 
even  when  marshalled  into  legions  under  the  Corsican  conquerorr 
to  be  fighting  the  battles  of  freedom ;  while,  on  the  other  side,, 
those  citizens  who  regarded  innovation  as  worse  than  tyranny r 
considered  England  and  her  allies  as  engaged  in  sustaining  the 
cause  of  order,  of  government,  and  of  society  itself. 

The  line  already  drawn  between  the  American  people  in  regard 
to  their  organic  law,  naturally  became  the  dividing  line  of  the- 
popular  sympathies  in  the  great  European  conflict.  Thus  deeply 
furrowed,  that  line  became  "  a  great  gulf  fixed."  The  federal 
party  unconsciously  became  an  English  party,  although  it  indig- 
nantly disowned  the  epithet ;  and  the  republican  party  became  a 
French  party,  although  with  equal  sincerity  it  denied  the  gross 
impeachment.  Each  belligerent  was  thus  encouraged  to  hope 
some  aid  from  the  United  States,  through  the  ever-expectec! 
triumph  of  its  friends;  while  both  conceived  contemptuous  opin- 
ions of  a  people  who,  from  too  eager  interest  in  a  foreign  fray, 

Vol.  III.— 6 


82  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

suffered  their  own  national  rights  to  be  trampled  Ujton  with  im- 
punity* by  the  contending  states. 

Washington  set  the  new  machine  of  government  in  motion. 
He  formed  his  cabinet  of  recognised  leaders  of  the  adverse 
parties.  Hamilton  and  Knox  of  the  federal  party  were  balanced 
by  Jefferson  and  Randolph  of  the  adverse  party.  "  Washington 
took  part  with  neither,  but  held  the  balance  between  them  with 
the  scrupulous  justice  which  marked  his  lofty  nature."  On  the 
25th  of  April,  1793,  he  announced  the  neutrality  of  the  United 
States  between  the  belligerents,  and  his  decision,  without  winning 
the  respect  of  either,  exasperated  both.  Each  invaded  our  na- 
tional rights  more  flagrantly  than-  before,  and  excused  the  injus- 
tice by  the  plea  of  necessary  retaliation  against  its  adversary,  and 
each  found  willing  apologists  in  a  sympathizing  faction  in  our 
own  country. 

Commercial  and  polical  relations  were  to  be  established  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  the  European  powers  in  this  season 
of  conflict.  Ministers  were  needed  who  could  maintain  and  vin- 
dicate abroad  the  same  impartiality  practised  by  Washington  at 
home.  There  was  one  citizen  eminently  qualified  for  such  a 
trust  in  such  a  conjuncture.  Need  I  say  that  citizen  was  the 
younger  Adams,  and  that  Washington  had  the  sagacity  to  dis- 
cover him  ? 

John  Quincy  Adams  successively  completed  missions  at  the 
Hague,  and  at  Berlin,  in  the  period  intervening  between  1794 
and  1801,  with  such  success  and  advantage,  that,  in  1802,  he  was 
honored  by  his  native  commonwealth  with  a  seat  as  her  repre- 
sentative in  the  senate  of  the  United  States.  The  insults  offered 
to  our  country  by  the  belligerents  increased  in  aggravation  as 
the  contest  between  them  became  more  violent  and  convulsive. 
France,  in  180-1,  laid  aside  even  the  name  and  forms  of  a  repub- 
lic, and  the  first  consul,  dropping  the  emblems  of  popular  power, 
placed  the  long-coveted  diadem  upon  his  brow,  where  its  jewels 
sparkled  among  the  laurels  he  had  won  in  the  conquest  of  Italy. 
Washington's  administration  had  passed  away,  leaving  the 
American  people  in  a  state  of  sullen  discontent.  John  Adams 
had  succeeded,  and  had  atoned  by  the  loss  of  power  for  the 
offence  he  had  given  by  causing  a  just  but  unavailing  war  to  be 
declared  against  France.  Jefferson  was  at  the  head  of  the 
government;  he  thought  the  belligerents  might  be  reduced  to 


JOHN  QUpCY  ADAMS.  83 

forbearance  by  depriving  them  of  our  commercial  contributions 
of  supplies,  and  recommended,  first,  an  embargo,  and  then  non- 
intercourse.  Britain  was  an  insular,  and  France  a  continental 
power.  The  effects  of  these  measures  were  expected,  therefore, 
to  be  more  severe  on  the  former  than  on  the  latter,  and,  unhap- 
pily, they  were  more  severe  on  our  own  country  than  on  either 
of  the  offenders. 

Massachusetts  was  the  chief  commercial  state  in  the  Union. 
She  saw  the  ruin  of  her  commerce  involved  in  the  policy  of 
Jefferson,  and  regarded  it  as  an  unworthy  concession  to  the 
usurper  of  the  French  throne.  In  this  emergency  John  Quincy 
Adams  turned  his  back  on  Massachusetts,  and  threw  into  the 
uprising  scale  of  the  administration,  the  weight  of  his  talents  and 
of  his  already  eminent  fame.  Massachusetts  instructed  the 
recusant  to  recant.  He  refused  to  obey,  and  resigned  his  place. 
His  change  of  political  relations  astounded  the  country,  and,  with 
the  customary  charity  of  partisan  zeal,  was  attributed  to  venality. 
It  is  now  seen  by  us  in  the  light  reflected  upon  it  by  the  habitual 
independence,  unquestioned  purity,  and  lofty  patriotism  of  his 
whole  life ;  and  thus  seen,  constitutes  only  the  first-marked  one 
of  many  instances  wherein  he  broke  the  green  withes  which 
party  fastened  upon  him,  and  maintained  the  cause  of  his  country, 
referring  the  care  of  his  fame  to  God  and  to  an  impartial  pos- 
terity. Like  the  Roman,  whom  Julius  Csesar  saluted  among  his 
executioners  with  the  exclamation  u  Et  tit  Brute  /"  John  Quincy 
Adams  was  not  unfaithful,  but  he  could  not  be  obliged  where  he 
was  not  left  free. 

Jefferson  retired  in  1809,  leaving  to  his  successor,  the  scholas- 
tic and  peace-loving  Madison,  the  perilous  legacy  of  perplexed 
foreign  relations,  and  embittered  domestic  feuds.  Great  Britain 
now  filled  the  measure  of  exasperations,  by  insolently  searching 
our  vessels  on  the  high  seas,  and  impressing  into  her  marine  all 
whom  she  chose  to  suspect  of  having  been  born  in  her  allegiance, 
even1  though  they  had  renounced  it,  and  had  assumed  the  rela- 
tions of  American  citizens.  "War  was  therefore  imminent  and 
inevitable.  Russia  was  then  coming  forward  to  a  position  of 
commanding  influence  in  Europe,  and  her  youthful  emperor, 
Alexander,  had  won,  by  his  chivalrous  bearing,  the  respect  of 
mankind.  John  Quincy  Adams  was  wisely  sent  by  the  United 
States  to  establish  relations  of  amity  with  the  great  power  of  the 


84:  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

north,  and,  while  he  was  thus  engaged,  the  flames  of  European 
war,  which  had  been  so  long  averted,  involved  his  own  country. 
War  was  declared  against  Great  Britain. 

It  was  just.  It  was  necessary.  Yet  it  was  a  war  that  chal- 
lenged Great  Britain  to  reassert  her  ancient  sovereignty.  It  was 
a  war  with  a  power  whose  wealth  and  credit  were  practically  in- 
exhaustible—  a  power  whose  navy  rode  unchecked  over  all  the 
seas,  and  whose  impregnable  garrisons  encircled  the  globe. 

Against  such  a  power,  the  war  was  waged  by  a  nation  that 
had  not  yet  accumulated  wealth,  nor  established  credit,  nor  even 
opened  avenues  suitable  for  transporting  munitions  of  war 
through  its  extended  territories  —  that  had  only  the  germ  of  a 
navy,  an  inconsiderable  army,  and  not  one  substantial  fortress. 
Yet  such  a  war,  under  such  circumstances,  was  denounced  as 
unnecessary  and  unjust,  though  for  no  better  reason  than  because 
greater  contumelies  had  been  endured  at  the  hands  of  France. 
Thus,  a  domestic  feud,  based  on  the  very  question  of  the  war 
itself,  enervated  the  national  strength,  and  encouraged  the 
mighty  adversary. 

The  desperate  valor  displayed  at  Chippewa  and  Lundy's  Lane, 
at  Fort  Erie  and  Plattsburgh,  and  the  brilliant  victories  won  in 
contests  between  single  ships-of-war  on  the  ocean  and  armed 
"fleets  on  the  lakes,  vindicated  the  martial  prowess  of  the  United 
States,  but  brought  us  no  decisive  advantages.  A  suspension  of 
the  conflict  in  Europe  followed  Napoleon's  disastrous  invasion  of 
Russia,  and  left  America  alone  opposed  to  her  great  adversary. 
Peace  was  necessary,  because  the  national  credit  was  exhausted ; 
because  the  fortunes  of  the  war  were  inclining  against  us ;  and 
because  the  opposition  to  it  was  ripening  into  disorganizing 
councils.  Adams  had  prepared  the  way  by  securing  the  media- 
tion of  Alexander.  Then  in  that  critical  period,  associated  with 
Russell,  Bayard,  the  learned  and  versatile  Gallatin,  and  the 
eloquent  and  chivalric  Clay,  he  negotiated  with  firmness,  with 
assiduity,  with  patience,  and  with  consummate  ability,  a  defin- 
itive treaty  of  peace  —  a  treaty  of  peace  which,  although  it  omit- 
ted the  causes  of  the  war  already  obsolete,  saved  and  established 
and  confirmed,  in  its  whole  integrity,  the  independence  of  the 
republic ;  a  treaty  of  peace  that  yet  endures,  and  we  willingly 
hope  may  endure  for  ever. 

After  fulfilling  a  subsequent  mission  at  the  court  of  St.  James, 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  85 

the  pacificator  entered  the  domestic  service  of  the  country  as 
secretary  of  state  in  the  administration  of  James  Monroe,  and  at 
the  expiration  of  that  administration  became  president  of  the 
United  States.  He  attained  the  honors  of  the  republic  at  the 
age  of  fifty-seven,  in  the  forty-ninth  year  of  independence.  He 
was  sixth  in  the  succession,  and  with  him  closed  the  line  of  chief 
magistrates  who  had  rendered  to  their  country  some  tribute  of 
their  talents  in  civil  or  military  service  in  the  war  of  independence. 

John  Quincy  Adams,  on  entering  civil  life,  had  found  the 
republic  unstable.  He  retired  in  1829,  leaving  it  firmly  estab- 
iished.  It  was  thus  his  happy  fortune  to  preside  at  the  comple- 
tion of  that  work  of  consolidation,  the  beginning  of  which  was 
the  end  of  the  labors  of  Washington. 

John  Quincy  Adams  engaged  in  this  great  work  while  yet  in 
private  life,  in  1793.  He  showed  to  his  fellow-citizens,  in  a  series 
of  essays,  the  inability  of  the  French  people  to  maintain  free 
institutions  at  that  time,  and  the  consequent  necessity  of  Ameri- 
can neutrality  in  the  European  war.  These  publications  aided 
Washington  so  much  the  more  because  they  anticipated  his 
own  decision.  Adams  sustained  the  same  great  cause,  when  he 
strengthened  the  administration  of  Jefferson  against  the  prepon- 
derating influence  of  Great  Britain.  His  diplomatic  services  in 
Holland  and  Russia  secured,  at  a  critical  period,  a  favorable  con- 
sideration in  the  courts  of  those  countries,. which  conduced  to 
the  same  end;  and  his  brilliant  success  in  restoring  peace  to  the 
■country  so  sorely  pressed,  relieved  her  from  her  enemies,  reas- 
sured her,  and  gave  to  skeptical  Europe  conclusive  proof  that 
her  republican  institutions  were  destined  to  endure. 

The  administration  of  John  Quincy  Adams  blends  so  inti- 
mately with  that  of  Monroe,  in  which  he  was  chief  minister,  that 
no  dividing  line  can  be  drawn  between  them.  Adams  may  be 
said,  without  derogation  from  the  fame  of  Monroe,  to  have 
swayed  the  government  during  his  presidency  ;  and,  with  equal 
truth,  Monroe  may  be  admitted  to  have  continued  his  adminis- 
tration through  that  of  his  successor. 

The  consolidation  of  the  republic  required  that  faction  should 
be  extinguished.  Monroe  began  this  difficult  task  cautiously 
and  pursued  it  with  success.  John  Quincy  Adams  completed 
the  achievement.  The  dignity  and  moderation  which  marked 
his  acceptance  of  the  highest  trust  which  a  free  people  could 


86  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

confer,  beautifully  foreshadowed  the  magnanimity  with  which  it 
was  to  be  discharged.  He  confessed  himself  deeply  sensible  of 
the  circumstances  under  which.it  had  been  conferred: 

"All  my  predecesssors,"  he  said,  "have  been  honored  with  majorities  of  the  electoral 
voices,  in  the  primary  colleges.  It  has  been  my  fortune  to  be  placed,  by  the  divisions 
of  sentiment  prevailing  among  our  countrymen,  on  this  occasion,  in  competition^ 
friendly  and  honorable,  with  three  of  my  fellow-citizens,  all  justly  enjoying,  in  eminent 
degrees,  the  public  favor;  and  of  whose  worth,  talents,  and  services,  no  one  entertains- 
a  higher  and  more  respectful  sense  than  myself.  The  names  of  two  of  them  were,  in 
the  fulfilment  of  the  provisions  of  the  constitution,  presented  to  the  selection  of  the 
house  of  representatives,  in  concurrence  with  my  own,  names  closely  associated  with 
the  glory  of  the  nation,  and  one  of  them  further  recommended  by  a  larger  majority 
of  the  primary  electoral  suffrages  than  mine.  In  this  state  of  things,  could  my  refusal 
to  accept  the  trust  thus  delegated  to  me  give  art  opportunity  to  the  people  to  form  and 
to  express,  with  a  nearer  approach  to  unanimity,  the  object  of  their  preference,  I 
should  not  hesitate  to  decline  the  acceptance  of  this  eminent  charge,  and  to  submit  the 
decision  of  this  momentous  question  again  to  their  determination." 

It  argued  a  noble  consciousness  of  virtue  to  express  on  such  an 
occasion,  so  ingenuously,  the  emotions  of  a  generous  ambition. 

He  displayed  the  same  great  quality  no  less  when  he  called  to 
the  post  of  chief-minister,  in  spite  of  clamors  of  corruption,  Henry 
Clay,  that  one  of  his  late  rivals  who  alone  among  his  countrymen 
had  the  talents  and  generosity  which  the  responsibilities  of  the 
period  exacted. 

John  Quincy  Adams  signalized  his  accession  to  the  post  of 
dangerous  elevation  by  avowing  the  sentiments  concerning 
parties  by  which  he  was  inflexibly  governed  throughout  his 
administration : — 

"Of  the  two  great  political  parties,"  he  said,  "  which  have  divided  the  opinions  and 
feelings  of  our  country,  the  candid  and  the  just  will  now  admit,  that  both  have  con- 
tributed splendid  talents,  spotless  integrity,  ardent  patriotism,  and  disinterested  sacri- 
fices, to  the  formation  and  administration  of  the  government,  and  that  both  have 
required  a  liberal  indulgence  for  a  portion  of  human  infirmity  and  error.  The  revo- 
lutionary wars  of  Europe,  commencing  precisely  at  the  moment  when  the  government 
of  the  United  States  first  went  into  operation  under  the  constitution,  excited  collisions 
of  sentiments,  and  of  sympathies,  which  kindled  all  the  passions  and  embittered  the 
conflict  of  parties,  till  the  nation  was  involved  in  war,  and  the  Union  was  shaken  to 
its  centre.  This  time  of  trial  embraced  a  period  of  five-and-twenty  years,  during 
which  the  policy  of  the  Union  in  its  relations  with  Europe  constituted  the  principal 
basis  of  our  own  political  divisions,  and  the  most  arduous  part  of  the  action  of  the 
federal  government.  With  the  catastrophe  in  which  the  wars  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion terminated,  and  our  own  subsequent  peace  with  Great  Britain,  this  baneful  weed 
of  party  strife  was  uprooted.  From  that  time  no  difference  of  principle,  conneeted 
with  the  theory  of  government,  or  with  our  intercourse  with  foreign  nations,  has 
existed  or  been  called  forth  in  force  sufficient  to  sustain  a  continued  combination  of 
parties,  or  given  more  than  wholesome  animation  to  public  sentiment  or  legislative 
debate.  Our  political  creed,  without  a  dissenting  voice  that  can  be  heard,  is  that  the 
will  of  the  people  is  the  source,  and  the  happiness  of  the  people  is  the  end,  of  all  legiti- 
mate government  upon  earth — that  the  best  security  for  the  beneficence,  and  the  best 
guaranty  against  the  abuse  of  power,  consists  in  the  freedom,  the  purity,  and  the 
frequency  of  popular  elections.     That  the  general  government  of  the  Union,  and  the 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  87 

separate  governments  of  the  states,  ;ire  all  sovereignties  of  legitimate  powers;  fellow- 
servants  of  the  same  masters,  uncontrolled  within  their  respective  spheres — uncontrol- 
lable by  encroachments  on  each  other.  If  there  have  been  those  who  doubted  wheth- 
er a  confederated  representative  democracy  was  a  government  competent  to  the 
wise  and  orderly  management  of  the  common  concerns  of  a  mighty  nation,  those 
doubts  have  been  dispelled.  If  there  have  been  projects  of  partial  confederacies  to  be 
erected  upon  the  ruins  of  the  Union,  they  have  been  scattered  to  the  winds.  If  there 
have  been  dangerous  attachments  to  one  foreign  nation,  and  antipathies  against 
another,  they  have  been  extinguished.  Ten  years  of  peace  at  home  and  abroad  have 
assuaged  the  animosities  of  political  contention,  and  blended  into  harmony  the  most 
^discordant  elements  of  public  opinion.  There  still  remains  one  effort  of  magnanimity, 
one  sacrifice  of  prejudice  and  passion,  to  be  made  by  the  individuals  throughout  the 
nation  who  have  heretofore  followed  the  standards  of  political  party.  It  is  that  of 
discarding  every  remnant  of  rancor  against  each  other,  of  embracing,  as  countrymen 
and  friends,  and  of  yielding  to  talents  and  virtue  alone,  that  confidence  which,  in 
times  of  contention  for  principle,  was  bestowed  only  upon  those  who  bore  the  badge 
of  party  communion." 

During  the  administration  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  he  was 
really  the  chief-magistrate.  He  submitted  neither  his  reason  nor 
his  conscience  to  the  control  of  any  partisan  cabal.  No  man  was 
appointed  to  office  In  obedience  to  political  dictation,  and  no 
faithful  public  servant  was  proscribed.  The  result  rewarded  his 
magnanimity.  Faction  ceased  to  exist.  When  South  Carolina, 
a  few  years  afterward,  assumed  the  very  ground  that  the  ancient 
republican  party  had  indicated  as  lawful  and  constitutional,  and 
claimed  the  right  and  power  to  set  aside  within  her  own  limits 
acts  of  Congress  which  she  pronounced  void,  because  they  tran- 
scended the  federal  authority,  she  called  on  the  republican  party 
throughout  the  Union  in  vain.  The  dangerous  heresy  had  been 
renounced  for  ever.  Since  that  time  there  has  been  no  serious 
project  of  a  combination  to  resist  the  laws  of  the  Union,  much 
less  of  a  conspiracy  to  subvert  the  Union  itself. 

What  though  the  elements  of  political  strife  remain  ?  They 
are  necessary  for  the  life  of  free  states.  What  though  there  still 
are  parties,  and  the  din  and  turmoil  of  their  contests  are  cease- 
lessly heard?  They  are  organized  now  on  questions  of  mere 
administration,  or  on  the  more  ephemeral  questions  of  personal 
merit.  Such  parties  are  dangerous  only  in  the  decline,  not  in 
the  vigor  of  republics.  Rome  was  no  longer  fit  for  freedom,  and 
needed  a  dictator  and  a  sovereign,  when  Pompey  and  Caesar 
divided  the  citizens.  What  though  the  magnanimity  of  Adams 
was  not  appreciated,  and  his  cotemporaries  preferred  his  military 
competitor  in  the  subsequent  election  ?  The  masses  of  any  peo- 
ple will  sometimes  prefer  the  immediate  benefits  which  martial 
heroism  confers,  to  the  long-maturing  harvest,  which  the  states- 


88  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

men  of  the  living  generations  sow,  to  be  reaped  by  their  succes- 
sors. For  all  this  Adams  cared  not.  He  had  extinguished  the 
factions  which  for  forty  years  had  endangered  the  state.  He  had 
left  on  the  records  of  history,  instructions  and  an  example  teach- 
ing how  faction  could  be  overthrown,  and  his  country  might 
resort  to  them  when  danger  should  recur.  For  himself  he  knew 
well,  none  knew  better,  that  • 

"  He  who  ascends  to  mountain-tops  shall  find 
The  loftiest  peaks  most  wrapt  in  clouds  and  snow: 

He  who  surpasses  or  subdues  mankind, 
Must  look  down  on  the  hates  of  those  below. 

Though  high  above  the  sun  of  glory  glow, 
And  far  beneath  the  earth  and  ocean  spread, 

Round  him  are  icy  rocks,  and  loudly  blow 
Contending  tempests  on  his  naked  head, 

And  thus  reward  the  toils  which  to  their  summits  led." 

The  federal  authority  had  so  long  been  factiously  opposed,  that 
the  popular  respect  for  its  laws  needed  to  be  renewed.  The  state 
of  Georgia  presented  the  fit  occasion.  She  insisted  on  expelling 
forcibly  remnants  of  Indian  tribes  within  her  limits,  in  virtue  of 
a  treaty  which,  being  impeached  for  fraud,  came  for  revision  be- 
fore the  supreme  court  and  the  senate.  The  president  met  the 
emergency  with  boldness  and  deckion.  The  demonstration  thus 
given  of  a  determination  that  good  faith  should  be  practised,  and 
tiie  law  have  its  way,  no  matter  how  unequal  the  litigating  par- 
ties, operated  favorably  toward  restoring  the  moral  influence  of 
the  government.  That  influence,  although  sometimes  checked, 
has  recently  increased  in  strength,  until  the  federal  authority  is 
universally  regarded  as  final,  and  Liberty  again  walks  confidently 
hand  in  hand  with  Law. 

John  Quincy  Adams  "  loved  peace  and  ensued  it."  He  loved 
peace  as  a  Christian,  because  war  was  at  enmity  with  the  spirit 
and  precepts  of  a  religion  which  he  held  to  be  Divine.  As  a 
statesman  and  magistrate  he  loved  peace,  because  war  was  not 
merely  injurious  to  national  prosperity,  but  because,  whether  suc- 
cessful or  adverse,  it  was  subversive  of  liberty.  Democracies  are 
prone  to  war,  and  war  consumes  them.  He  favored,  therefore,  all 
the  philanthropic  efforts  of  the  age  to  cultivate  the  spirit  of  peace, 
and  looked  forward  with  benevolent  hope  to  the  ultimate  institu- 
tion of  a  general  congress  of  nations  for  the  adjustment  of  their 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  89 

controversies.  But  he  was  no  visionary,  and  no  enthusiast.  He 
knew  that  as  yet  war  was  often  inevitable  —  that  pusillanimity 
provoked  it,  and  that  national  honor  was  national  property  of  the 
highest  value,  because  it  was  the  best  national  defence.  He  ad- 
mitted only  offensive  war,  but  he  did  not  narrowly  define  it.  He 
held  that  to  be  a  defensive  war  which  was  urged  to  sustain  what 
could  not  be  surrendered  or  relinquished  without  compromising 
the  independence,  the  just  influence,  or  even  the  proper  dignity, 
of  the  state.  Thus  he  had  supported  the  war  with  Great  Britain ; 
thus  in  later  years  he  sustained  President  Jackson  in  his  bold 
demonstration  against  France,  when  that  power  wantonly  refused 
to  perform  the  stipulations  it  had  made  in  a  treaty  of  indemnity  ; 
and  thus  he  yielded  his  support  to  what  was  thought  a  warlike 
measure  of  the  present  administration  in  the  diplomatic  contro- 
versy with  Great  Britain  concerning  the  territory  of  Oregon. 
The  living  and  the  dead  have  mutual  rights,  and  therefore  it 
must  be  added  that  he  considered  the  present  war  with  Mexico 
unnecessary,  unjust,  and  criminal.  His  opinion  on  this  exciting 
question  is  among  those  on  which  he  referred  himself  to  that 
future  age  which  he  so  often  constituted  the  umpire  between 
himself  and  his  cotemporaries. 

With  such  principles  on  the  subject  of  war,  he  regarded  the 
establishment  of  a  system  of  national  defence  as  a  necessary  pol- 
icy for  consolidating  the  republic.  He  prosecuted,  therefore,  on 
a  large  scale,  the  work  of  fortification,  and  defended  against  pop- 
ular opposition  the  institution  for  the  cultivation  of  military  sci- 
ence which  has  so  recently  vindicated  that  early  favor  through 
the  learning,  valor,  patriotism,  and  humanity,  exhibited  by  its 
pupils  on  the  fields  of  Mexico.  But  with  that  jealousy  of  the  mil- 
itary spirit  which  never  forsakes  the  wise  republican  statesman, 
he  co-operated  in  reducing  the  army  to  the  lowest  scale  commen- 
surate with  its  necessary  efficiency  :  "  It  was  a  vain  and  danger- 
ous delusion,"  he  said,  "  to  believe  that  in  the  present  or  any 
probable  condition  of  the  world,  a  commerce  so  extensive  as  ours 
could  exist  without  the  continual  support  of  a  military  marine  — 
the  only  arm  by  which  the  power  of  a  confederacy  could  be  esti- 
mated or  felt  by  foreign  nations,  and  the  only  standing  force 
which  could  never  be  dangerous  to  our  own  liberties."  The  en- 
largement of  our  navy,  under  the  influence  of  these  opinions,  is 
among  the  measures  of  national  consolidation  we  owe  to  him ; 


90  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

and  the  institution  for  naval  education  we  enjoy  is  a  recent  result 
of  his  early  suggestions. 

But  John  Quincy  Adams  relied  for  national  security  and  peace 
mainly  on  an  enlightened  and  broad  system  of  civil  policy.  He 
looked  through  the  future  combinations  of  states,  and  studied  the 
accidents  to  which  they  were  exposed,  that  he  might  seasonably 
remove  causes  of  future  conflict.  His  genius,  when  exercised  in 
this  lofty  duty,  played  in  its  native  element.  He  had  cordially 
approved  the  measures  by  which  Washington  had  secured  the 
free  navigation  of  the  Mississippi.  He  approved  the  acquisition 
of  Louisiana,  although  with  Jefferson  he  insisted  on  a  preliminary 
amendment  of  the  constitution  for  that  purpose.  He  had  no  nar- 
row bigotry  concerning  the  soil  to  which  the  institutions  of  our 
fathers  should  be  confined,  and  no  local  prejudice  against  their 
extension  in  any  direction  required  by  the  public  security,  if  the 
extension  should  be  made  with  justice,  honor,  and  humanity. 

The  acquisition  of  Louisiana  had  given  us  additional  territory, 
fruitful  in  new  commerce,  to  be  exposed  to  dangers  which  re 
mained  to  be  overcome.  Spain  still  possessed,  besides  the  island 
of  Cuba,  the  peninsula  of  the  Floridas,  and  thus  held  the  keys  of 
the  Mississippi.  The  real  independence,  the  commercial  and  the 
moral  independence,  of  the  United  States,  remained  to  be  effected 
at  the  close  of  the  European  wars,  and  of  our  own  war  with  Eng- 
land. Our  political  independence  had  been  confirmed,  and  that 
was  all.  John  Quincy  Adams  addressed  himself,  as  secretary  of 
state,  to  the  subversion  of  what  remained  of  the  colonial  system. 
He  commenced  by  an  auspicious  purchase  of  the  Floridas,  which 
gave  us  important  maritime  advantages  on  the  gulf  of  Mexico, 
while  it  continued  our  Atlantic  seaboard  unbroken  from  the  bay 
of  Eundy  to  the  Sabine. 

The  ever- advancing  American  lie  volution  was  at  the  same  time 
opening  the  way  to  complete  disenthralment.  The  Spanish- Amer- 
ican provinces  revolted  ;  and  seven  new  republics,  with  constitu- 
tions differing  not  widely  from  our  own  —  Buenos  Ayres,  Guate- 
mala, Colombia,  Mexico,  Chili,  Central  America,  and  Peru — r 
suddenly  claimed  audience  and  admission  among  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  The  people  of  those  countries  were  but  doubtfully 
prepared  to  maintain  their  contest  for  independence,  or  to  sup- 
port republican  institutions.  But,  on  the  other  side,  Spain  was 
enervated  and  declining.     She  applied  to  the  Holy  League  of 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  91 

Europe  for  their  aid,  and  the  new  republics  appealed  to  the  Uni- 
ted States  for  that  recognition  which  could  not  fail  to  impart 
strength.  The  question  was  momentous.  The  ancient  colonial 
system  was  at  stake.  All  Europe  was  interested  in  maintaining- 
it.  The  Holy  League  held  Europe  fast  bound  to  the  rock  of  des- 
potism, and  were  at  liberty  to  engage  the  United  States  in  a  war 
for  the  subversion  of  their  independence,  if  they  should  dare  to 
extend  their  aid  or  protection  to  the  rebellious  colonies  in  South? 
America. 

Such  a  war  would  be  a  war  of  the  two  continents  —  a  universal 
war.  Who  could  foretell  its  termination,  or  its  dread  results? 
But  the  emancipation  of  Spanish  America  was  necessary  for  our 
own  larger  freedom  and  our  own  complete  security.  That  free- 
dom and  that  security  required  that  the  nations  of  Europe  should 
relax  their  grasp  on  the  American  continent.  The  question  was 
long  and  anxiously  debated.  The  American  people  hesitated  to 
hazard,  for  speculative  advantages,  the  measure  of  independence 
already  obtained.  Monroe  and  Adams  waited  firmly  and  calmly. 
The  impassioned  voice  of  Henry  Clay  rose  from  the  chamber  of 
representatives.  It  rang  through  the  continent  like  the  notes  of 
the  clarion,  inspiring  South  America  with  new  resolution,  and 
North  America  with  the  confidence  the  critical  occasion  demand- 
ed. That  noble  appeal  was  answered.  South  America  stood 
firm,  and  North  America  was  ready.  Then  it  was  that  John 
Quincy  Adams,  with  those  generous  impulses  which  the  impa- 
tient blood  of  his  Revolutionary  sire  always  prompted,  and  with 
that  enlightened  sagacity  which  never  misapprehended  the  inter- 
ests of  his  country,  nor  mistook  the  time  nor  the  means  to  secure 
them,  obtained  from  the  administration  and  from  Congress  the 
acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of  the  young  American  na- 
tions. To  give  decisive  effect  to  this  great  measure,  Monroe,  in 
1823,  solemnly  declared  to  the  world  that  thenceforth  any  attempt 
by  any  foreign  power  to  establish  the  colonial  system  in  any  part 
of  this  continent,  already  emancipated,  would  be  resisted  as  an 
aggression  against  the  independence  of  the  United  States.  On 
the  accession  of  Adams  to  the  administration  of  the  government, 
the  vast  American  continental  possessions  of  Brazil  separated 
themselves  from  the  crown  of  Portugal  and  became  an  indepen- 
dent state.  Adams  improved  these  propitious  and  sublime  events 
oj  negotiating  treaties  of  reciprocal  trade  with  the  youthful  na- 


D2  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

tions ;  and,  concurring  with  Monroe,  accepted  in  behalf  of  the 
United  States  their  invitation  to  a  general  congress  of  American 
states  to  be  held  at  Panama,  to  cement  relations  of  amity  among 
themselves,  and  to  consider,  if  it  should  become  necessary,  the 
proper  means  to  repel  the  apprehended  interference  of  the  Holy 
League  of  Europe. 

This  last  measure  transcended  the  confidence  of  a  large  and 
respectable  portion  of  the  American  people.  But  its  moral  effect 
was  needed  to  secure  the  stability  of  the  South  American  repub- 
lics. Adams  persevered,  and,  in  defending  his  course,  gave  no- 
tice to  the  powers  of  Europe,  by  this  bold  declaration,  that  the 
determination  of  the  United  States  was  inflexible:  — 

"  If  it  be  asked,  whether  this  meeting,  and  the  principles  which  may  be  adjusted 
and  settled  by  it,  as  rules  of  intercourse  between  American  nations,  may  not  give 
umbrage  to  European  powers,  or  offence  to  Spain,  it  is  deemed  a  sufficient  answer,  that 
our  attendance  at  Panama  can  give  no  just  cause  of  umbrage,  or  offence  to  either,  and 
that  the  United  States  will  stipulate  nothing  there,  which  can  give  such  cause.  Here 
the  right  of  inquiry  into  our  purposes  and  measures  must  stop.  The  Holy  League  of 
Europe,  itself,  was  formed  without  inquiring  of  the  United  States,  whether  it  would 
or  would  not  give  umbrage  to  them.  The  fear  of  giving  umbrage  to  the  Holy  League 
of  Europe  was  urged  as  a  motive  for  denying  to  the  American  nations  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  their  independence.  The  Congress  and  the  administration  of  that  day,  con- 
sulted their  rights  and  their  duties,  not  their  fears.  Tiie  United  States  must  still,  as 
heretofore,  take  counsel  from  their  duties,  rather  than  their  fears." 

Contrast  fellow-citizens,  this  declaration  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  president  of  the  United  States  in  1825,  with  the  procla- 
mation of  neutrality  between  the  belligerents  of  Europe,  made 
by  Washington  in  1793,  with  the  querulous  complaints  of  your 
ministers  against  the  French  directory  and  the  British  ministry, 
at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  and  with  the  acts  of  embargo  and 
non-intercourse  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  destroy- 
ing our  own  commerce  to  conquer  forbearance  from  the  intolerant 
European  powers.  Learn  from  this  contrast,  the  epoch  of  the 
consolidation  of  the  republic.  Thus  instructed,  do  honor  to  the 
statesman  and  magistrate  by  whom,  not  forgetting  the  meed  due 
to  his  illustrious  compeers,  the  colonial  system  was  overthrown 
throughout  Spanish- America,  and  the  independence  of  the  United 
States  was  completely  and  finally  consummated. 

The  intrepid  and  unwearied  statesman  now  directed  his  atten- 
tion to  the  remnants  of  the  colonial  system  still  preserved  in  the 
Canadas,  and  West  Indies.  Great  Britain,  by  parliamentary 
measures,  had  undermined  our  manufactures,  and,  receiving  only 
our  raw  materials,   repaid   us  with  fabrics  manufactured  from 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  93 

them,  while  she  excluded  us  altogether  from  the  carrying  trade 
with  her  colonial  possessions.  John  Quincy  Adams,  sought  to 
counteract  this  injurious  legislation,  by  a  revenue  system,  which 
should  restore  the  manufacturing  industry  of  the  country,  while 
he  offered  reciprocal  trade  as  a  compromise.  His  administration 
ended  during  a  beneficial  trial  of  this  vigorous  policy.  But  it 
taxed  too  severely  the  patriotism  of  some  of  the  states,  and  was 
relinquished  by  his  successors. 

Indolence  begets  degeneracy,  and  immobility  is  the  first  stage 
of  dissolution.  John  Quincy  Adams  sought  not  merely  to  con- 
solidate the  republic,  but  to  perpetuate  it.  For  this  purpose  he 
bent  vast  efforts  with  success,  to  such  a  policy  of  internal  im- 
provement as  would  increase  the  facilities  of  communication  and 
intercourse  between  the  states,  and  bring  into  being  that  great 
internal  trade  which  must  ever  constitute  the  strongest  bond, 
of  federal  union.  Wherever  a  lighthouse  has  been  erected, 
on  our  seacoast,  on  our  lakes,  or  on  our  rivers  —  wherever  a 
mole  or  pier  has  been  constructed  or  begun  —  wherever  a 
channel  obstructed  by  shoals  or  sawyers  has  been  opened, 
or  begun  to  be  opened  —  wherever  a  canal  or  railroad,  adapted 
to  national  uses,  has  been  made  or  projected,  there  the  engineers 
of  the  United  States,  during  the  Administration  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  made  explorations,  and  opened  the  way  for  a  diligent 
prosecution  of  his  designs  by  his  successors.  This  policy,  appa- 
rently so  stupendous,  was  connected  with  a  system  of  fiscal  econ- 
omy so  rigorous,  that  the  treasury  augmented  its  stores,  while 
the  work  of  improvement  went  on ;  the  public  debt,  contracted 
in  past  wars,  dissolved  away,  and  the  nation  flourished  in  unex- 
ampled prosperity.  John  Quincy  Adams  administered  the  fed- 
eral government,  while  De  Witt  Clinton  was  presiding  in  the 
state  of  New  York.  It  is  refreshing  to  recall  the  noble  emulation 
of  these  illustrious  benefactors — an  emulation  that  shows  how 
inseparable  sound  philosophy  is  from  true  patriotism. 

"If,"  said  Adams,  in  his  first  annual  message  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
"the  powers  enumerated  may  be  effectually  brought  into  action,  by  laws  promoting 
the  improvement  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufactures,  the  cultivation  and 
encouragement  of  the  mechanic  arts,  and  of  the  elegant  arts,  the  advancement  of  liter- 
ature, and  the  progress  of  the  sciences,  ornamental  and  profound,  to  refrain  from  exer- 
cising them  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  would  be  to  hide  in  the  earth  the  talent 
committed  to  our  charge,  would  be  treachery  to  the  most  sacred  of  trusts.  The  spirit 
of  improvement  is  abroad  upon  the  earth.  It  stimulates  the  hearts,  and  sharpens  the 
faculties,  not  of  our  fellow-citizens  alone,  but  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  and  of  their 
rulers.     While  dwelling  with  pleasing  satisfaction  upon  the  superior  excellence  of  our 


94  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

political  institutions,  let  us  not  be  unmindful  that  liberty  is  power,  that  the  nation 
blessed  with  the  largest  portion  of  liberty,  must,  in  proportion  to  its  numbers,  be  the 
most  powerful  nation  upon  earth,  and  that  the  tenure  of  power  by  man  is,  in  the 
moral  purposes  of  his  Creator,  upon  condition  that  it  shall  be  exercised  to  ends  of 
beneficence,  to  improve  the  condition  of  himself,  and  his  fellow-men.  While  foreign 
nations,  less  blessed  with  that  freedom  which  is  power,  than  ourselves,  are  advancing 
with  gigantic  strides  in  the  career  of  public  improvement,  were  we  to  slumber  in 
indolence,  or  fold  our  arms  and  proclaim  to  the  world  that  we  are  palsied  by  the  will 
of  our  constituents,  would  it  not  be  to  cast  away  the  bounties  of  providence  and  doom 
-ourselves  to  perpetual  inferiority?  In  the  course  of  the  year  now  drawing  to  its  close, 
we  have  beheld  under  the  auspices,  and  at  the  expense  of  one  state  of  this  Union,  a 
new  university  unfolding  its  portals  to  the  sons  of  science,  and  holding  up  the  torch 
of  human  improvement  to  eyes  that  seek  the  light.*  We  have  seen,  under  the  per- 
severing and  enlightened  enterprise  of  another  state,  the  waters  of  our  western  lakes 
mingle  with  those  of  the  ocean.  If  undertakings  like  these  have  been  accomplished, 
in  the  compass  of  a  few  years,  by  the  authority  of  single  members  of  our  confederacy, 
can  we,  the  representative  authorities  of  the  whole  Union,  fall  behind  our  fellow- 
fiervants,  in  the  exercise  of  the  trust  committed  to  us  for  the  benefit  of  our  common 
sovereign,  by  the  accomplishment  of  works  important  to  the  whole,  and  to  which 
neither  the  authority  nor  the  resources  of  any  one  state  can  be  adequate?" 

The  disastrous  career  of  many  of  the  states,  and  the  absolute 
inaction  of  others,  since  the  responsibilities  of  internal  improve- 
ment have  been  cast  off  by  the  federal  authorities,  and  devolved 
upon  the  states,  without  other  sources  of  revenue  than  direct 
taxation,  and  with  no  other  motives  to  stimulate  them  than  their 
own  local  interests,  are  a  fitting  commentary  on  the  error  of  that 
departure  from  the  policy  of  John  Quincy  Adams.  If  other 
comment  were  necessary,  it  would  be  found  in  the  fact  that  states 
have  revised  and  amended  their  constitutions,  so  as  to  abridge 
the  power  of  their  legislatures  to  prosecute  the  beneficent  enter- 
prises which  the  federal  government  has  devolved  upon  them. 
The  Smithsonian  Institute,  at  the  seat  of  government,  founded  by 
the  liberality  of  a  cosmopolite,  is  that  same  university  so  earnestly 
recommended  by  Adams  for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge among  men.  The  exploration  of  the  globe,  for  purposes  of 
geographical  and  political  knowledge,  which  has  so  recently  been 
made  under  the  authority  of  the  Union,  and  with  such  noble 
results,  was  an  enterprise  conceived  and  suggested  by  the  same 
statesman.  The  National  Observatory  at  the  capital  which  is 
piercing  the  regions  nearest  to  the  throne  of  the  eternal  Author  of 
the  universe,  is  an  emanation  of  the  same  comprehensive  wisdom. 

Such  was  the  administration  of  John  Quincy  Adams.  Surely 
it  exhibits  enough  done  for  duty  and  for  fame — if  the  ancient 
philosopher  said  truly,  that  the  duty  of  a  statesman  was  to  make 
the  citizens  happy,  to  make  them  firm  in  power,  rich  in  wealth, 

*  The  University  of  Virginia. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  95 

splendid  in  glory,  and  eminent  in  virtue,  and  that  such  achieve- 
ments were  the  greatest  and  best  of  all  works  among  men. 

But  the  measure  of  duty  was  not  yet  fulfilled.  The  republic 
thought  it  no  longer  had  need  of  the  services  of  Adams,  and  he 
bowed  to  its  command.  Two  years  elapsed,  and  lo !  the  priest 
was  seen  again  beside  the  deserted  altar,  and  a  brighter,  purer, 
and  more  lasting  flame  arose  out  of  the  extinguished  embers. 

"  He  looked  in  years.     But  in  his  years  were  seen 
A  youthful  vigor,  an  autumnal  green." 

The  republic  had  been  extended  and  consolidated ;  but  human 
slavery,  which  had  been  incorporated  in  it,  was  extended  and 
consolidated  also,  and  was  spreading,  so  as  to  impair  the  strength 
of  the  great  fabric  on  which  the  hopes  of  the  nation  were  sus- 
pended. Slavery,  therefore,  must  be  restrained,  and  without 
violence  or  injustice,  must  be  abolished.  The  difficult  task  of 
removing  it  had  been  postponed  by  the  statesmen  of  the  revolu- 
tion, and  had  been  delayed  and  forgotten  by  their  successors. 
There  were  now  resolute  hearts  and  willing  hands  to  undertake 
it,  but  who  was  strong  enough,  and  bold  enough  to  lead?  Who 
had  patience  to  bear  with  enthusiasm  that  overleaped  its  mark, 
and  with  intolerance  that  defeated  its  own  generous  purposes  ? 
Slaveholders  had  power,  nay,  the  national  power ;  and,  strange 
to  say,  they  had  it  with  the  nation's  consent  and  sympathy. 
Who  was  bold  enough  to  provoke  them,  and  bring  the  execration 
of  the  nation  down  upon  his  own  head?  Who  would  do  this, 
when  even  abolitionists  themselves,  rendered  implacable  by  the 
manifestation  of  those  sentiments  of  justice  and  moderation,  with- 
out which  the  most  humane  cause  depending  on  a  Change  of 
public  opinion,  can  not  be  conducted  safely  to  a  prosperous  end, 
were  ready  to  betray  their  own  champion  into  the  hands  of  the 
avenger  ?  That  leader  was  found  in  the  person  of  John  Quincy 
Adams.  He  took  his  seat  in  the  house  of  representatives  in  1831, 
without  assumption  or  ostentation.  Abolitionists  placed  in  his 
hand  petitions  for  the  suppression  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Co- 
lumbia, the  seat  of  the  federal  authorities.  He  offered  them  to  the 
house  of  representatives,  and  they  were  rejected  with  contumely 
and  scorn.  Suddenly  the  alarm  went  forth,  that  the  aged  and 
venerable  servant  was  retaliating  upon  his  country  by  instigating 
a  servile  war,  that  such  a  war  must  be  avoided,  even  at  the  cost 


96  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

of  sacrificing  the  freedom  of  petition  and  the  freedom  of  debate, 
and  that  if  the  free-states,  would  not  consent  to  make  that  sacri- 
fice, then  the  Union  should  be  dissolved.  This  alarm  had  its 
desired  effect.  The  house  of  representatives  in  1837,  adopted  a 
rule  of  discipline,  equivalent  to  an  act,  ordaining  that  no  petition 
relating  to  slavery,  nearly  or  remotely,  should  be  read,  debated, 
or  considered.  The  senate  adopted  a  like  edict.  The  state 
authorities  approved.  Slavery  was  not  less  strongly  entrenched, 
behind  the  bulwark  of  precedents  in  the  courts  of  law,  than  in 
the  fixed  habits  of  thought  and  action  among  the  people.  The 
people  even  in  the  free  states  denounced  the  discussion  of  slavery, 
and  suppressed  it  by  unlawful  force.  John  Quincy  Adams  stood 
unmoved  amid  the  storm.  He  knew  that  the  only  danger  inci- 
dent to  political  reform,  was  the  danger  of  delaying  it  too  long. 
The  French  Revolution  had  made  this  an  axiom  of  political 
science.  If,  indeed,  the  discussion  of  slavery  was  so  hazardous 
as  was  pretended,  it  had  been  deferred  too  long  already.  The 
advocates  of  slavery  had  committed  a  fatal  error.  They  had 
abolished  freedom  of  speech  and  freedom  of  petition  to  save  an 
obnoxious  institution.  As  soon  as  the  panic  should  subside,  the 
people  would  demand  the  restoration  of  those  precious  rights,  and 
would  scrutinize  with  fearless  fidelity  the  cause  for  which  they 
had  been  suppressed.  He  offered  petition  after  petition,  each 
bolder  and  more  importunate  than  the  last.  He  debated  ques- 
tions kindred  to  those  which  were  forbidden,  with  the  firmness 
and  fervor  of  his  noble  nature.     For  age 

"Had  not  quenched  the  open  truth 
And  fiery  vehemence  of  youth." 

Soon  he  gained  upon  his  adversaries.  District  after  district 
sent  champions  to  his  side.  States  reconsidered  and  resolved  in 
his  behalf.  He  saw  the  tide  was  turning,  and  then  struck  one 
bold  blow,  not  now  for  freedom  of  petition  and  of  debate,  but  a 
stroke  of  bold  and  retaliating  warfare.  He  offered  a  resolution 
declaring  that  the  following  amendments  of  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  be  submitted  to  the  people  of  the  several  states 
for  their  adoption :  — 

"From  and  after  the  fourth  day  of  July,  1842,  there  shall  be,  throughout  the  United 
States,  no  hereditary  slavery,  but  on  and  after  that  day  every  child  born  within  the 
United  States  shall  be  free. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  97 

"With  the  exception  of  the  territory  of  Florida,  there  shall  henceforth,  never  be 
admitted  into  this  Union,  any  state  the  constitution  of  which  shall  tolerate  within  the 
same  the  existence  of  slavery." 

In  1845,  the  obnoxious  rule  of  the  house  of  representatives  was 
rescinded.  Freedom  of  debate  and  of  petition  was  restored,  and 
the  unrestrained  and  irrepressible  discussion  of  slavery  by  the 
press  and  political  parties  began.  For  the  rest,  the  work  of 
emancipation  abides  the  action,  whether  it  be  slow  or  fast,  of  the 
moral  sense  of  the  American  people.  It  depends  not  on  the  zeal 
and  firmness  only  of  the  reformers,  but  on  their  wisdom  and 
moderation  also.  Stoicism  that  had  no  charity  for  error,  never 
converted  any  human  society  to  virtue  ;  Christianity  that  remem- 
bers the  true  nature  of  man,  has  encompassed  a  large  portion  of 
the  globe.  How  long  emancipation  may  be  delayed  is  among 
the  things  concealed  from  our  knowledge,  but  not  so  the  certain 
result.  The  perils  of  the  enterprise  are  already  passed — its  diffi- 
culties have  already  been  removed — when  it  shall  have  been 
accomplished  it  will  be  justly  regarded  as  the  last  noble  effort- 
which  rendered  the  republic  imperishable. 

Then  the  merit  of  the  great  achievement  will  be  awarded  to 
John  Quincy  Adams ;  and  by  none  more  gratefully  than  by  the 
communities  on  whom  the  institution  of  slavery  has  brought  the 
calamity  of  premature  and  consumptive  decline,  in  the  midst  of 
free,  vigorous,  and  expanding  states. 

If  this  great  transaction  could  be  surpassed  in  dramatic  sub- 
limity, it  was  surpassed  when  the  same  impassioned  advocate  of 
humanity  appeared,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four,  with  all  the 
glorious  associations  that  now  clustered  upon  him,  at  the  bar  of 
the  supreme  court  of  the  United  States,  and  pleaded  without 
solicitation  or  reward,  the  cause  of  Cinque  and  thirty  other 
Africans,  who  had  been  stolen  by  a  Spanish  slaver  from  their 
native  coast,  had  slain  the  master  and  crew  of  the  pirate  vessel, 
floated  into  the  waters  of  the  United  States,  and  there  been 
claimed  by  the  president,  in  behalf  of  the  authorities  of  Spain. 
He  pleaded  this  great  cause  with  such  happy  effect,  that  the 
captives  were  set  at  liberty.  Conveyed  by  the  charity  of  the 
humane  to  their  native  shores,  they  bore  the  pleasing  intelligence 
to  Africa,  that  justice  was  at  last  claiming  sway  among  civilized 
and  Christian  men  ! 

The  recital  of  heroic  actions  loses  its  chief  value,  if  we  can  not 

Vol.  III.— 7 


98  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

discover  the  principles  in  which  they  were  born.  The  text  of 
John  Quincy  Adams,  from  which  he  deduced  the  duties  of  citi- 
zens, and  of  the  republic,  was  the  address  of  the  continental 
congress  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  successful  close  of  the  American  Revolution.  He  dwelt  often 
and  emphatically  on  the  words  :  — 

"Let  it  be  remembered,  that  it  has  ever  been  the  pride  and  the  boast  of  America, 
that  the  rights  for  which  she  contended  were  the  rights  of  human  nature.  By  the 
blessing  of  the  Author  of  those  rights,  they  have  prevailed  over  all  opposition,  and 
form  the  basis  of  thirteen  independent  states.  No  instance  has  heretofore  occurred 
nor  can  any  instance  be  expected  hereafter  to  occur,  in  which  the  unadulterated  forms 
of  republican  government  can  pretend  to  so  fair  an  opportunity  of  justifying  them- 
selves by  their  fruits.  In  this  view,  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  are  responsible 
for  the  greatest  trust  ever  confided  to  a  political  society.  If  justice,  good  faith,  honor, 
gratitude,  and  all  the  other  qualities  which  ennoble  the  character  of  a  nation,  and 
fulfil  the  ends  of  government,  be  the  fruits  of  our  establishments,  the  cause  of  liberty 
will  acquire  a  dignity  and  lustre  which  it  has  never  yet  enjoyed,  and  an  example  will 
be  set  which  can  not  but  have  the  most  favorable  influence  on  mankind.  If,  on  the 
other  side,  our  governments  should  be  unfortunately  blotted  with  the  reverse  of  these 
cardinal  virtues,  the  great  cause  which  we  have  engaged  to  vindicate  will  be  dis- 
honored and  betrayed  ;  the  last  and  fairest  experiment  in  favor  of  the  rights  of  human 
nature  will  be  turned  against  them,  and  their  patrons  and  friends  exposed  to  the 
insults,  and  silenced  by  the  votaries  of  tyranny  and  usurpation." 

Senators  and  representatives  of  the  people  of  the  state  of  New 
York :  I  had  turned  my  steps  away  from  your  honored  halls, 
long  since,  as  I  thought,  for  ever.  I  come  back  to  them  by  your 
command,  to  fulfil  a  higher  duty,  and  more  honorable  service 
than  ever  before  devolved  upon  me.  I  repay  your  generous  con- 
fidence, by  offering  to  you  this  exposition  of  the  duties  of  the 
anagistrate  and  of  the  citizen.  It  is  the  same  which  John  Quincy 
Adams  gave  to  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  in  his  oration 
on  the  death  of  James  Madison.  It  is  the  key  to  his  own  exalted 
character,  and  it  enables  us  to  measure  the  benefits  he  conferred 
upon  his  country.  If,  then,  you  ask,  what  motive  enabled  him 
to  rise  above  parties,  sects,  combinations,  prejudices,  passions, 
and  seductions,  I  answer,  that  he  served  his  Country,  not  alone, 
or  chiefly  because  that  country  was  his  own,  but  because  he 
knew  her  duties,  and  her  destiny,  and  knew  her  cause  was  the 
cause  of  human  nature. 

If  you  inquire  why  he  was  so  rigorous  in  virtue  as  to  be  often 
thought  austere,  I  answer,  it  was  because  human  nature  required 
the  exercise  of  justice,  honor,  and  gratitude,  by  all  who  were 
clothed  with  authority  to  act  in  the  name  of  the  American  people. 
If  you  ask  why  he  seemed,  sometimes,  with  apparent  inconsis- 
tency, to  lend  his  charities  to  the  distant  and  the  future  rather 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  99 

than  to  his  own  kindred  and  times,  I  reply,  it  was  because  he 
held  that  the  tenure  of  human  power  is  on  condition  of  its  being 
beneficently  exercised  for  the  common  welfare  of  the  human  race. 
Such  men  are  of  no  country.  They  belong  to  mankind.  If  we 
-can  not  rise  to  this  height  of  virtue,  we  can  not  hope  to  compre- 
hend the  character  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  or  understand  the 
homage  paid  by  the  American  people  to  his  memory. 

Need  it  be  said  that  John  Quincy  Adams  studied  justice, 
honor,  and  gratitude,  not  by  the  false  standards  of  the  age,  but 
by  their  own  true  nature.  He  generalized  truth,  and  traced  it 
always  to  its  source,  the  bosom  of  God.  Thus  in  his  defence  of 
the  Amistad  captives  he  began  with  defining  justice  in  the  lan- 
guage of  Justinian,  "  Constans  et  perpetua  voluntas  jus  suum 
cuique  tribuendi."  He  quoted  on  that  occasion  from  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  not  by  way  of  rhetorical  embellishment, 
and  not  even  as  a  valid  human  ordinance,  but  as  a  truth  of 
nature,  of  universal  application,  the  memorable  words,  "  We  hold 
these  truths  to  be  self-evident,  that  all  men  are  created  equal,  and 
that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable 
rights,  and  that  among  these  rights  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness."  In  his  vindication  of  the  right  of  debate,  he 
declared  that  the  principle  that  religious  opinions  were  altogether 
beyond  the  sphere  of  legislative  control,  was  but  one  modification 
of  a  more  extensive  axiom,  which  included  the  unbounded  free- 
dom of  the  press,  and  of  speech,  and  of  the  communication  of 
thought  in  all  its  forms.  He  rested  the  inviolability  of  the  right 
of  petition,  not  on  constitutions,  or  charters  which  might  be 
glossed,  abrogated,  or  expunged,  but  on  the  inherent  right  of 
every  animate  creature  to  pray  to  its  superior. 

The  model  by  which  he  formed  his  character  was  Cicero. 
Not  the  living  Cicero,  sometimes  inconsistent ;  often  irresolute  ; 
too  often  seeming  to  act  a  studied  part ;  and  always  covetous  of 
applause.  But  Cicero,  as  he  aimed  to  be,  and  as  he  appears 
revealed  in  those  immortal  emanations  of  his  genius  which  have 
been  the  delight  and  guide  of  intellect,  and  virtue,  in  every 
succeeding  age.  Like  the  Roman,  Adams  was  an  orator,  but  he 
did  not  fall  into  the  error  of  the  Roman,  in  practically  valuing 
eloquence  more  than  the  beneficence  to  which  it  should  be 
devoted.  Like  him  he  was  a  statesman  and  magistrate  worthy 
to  be  called  "The  second  founder  of  the  republic," — like  him  a 


100  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

teacher  of  didactic  philosophy,  of  morals,  and  even  of  his  own 
peculiar  art ;  and  like  him  he  made  all  liberal  learning  tributary 
to  that  noble  art,  while  poetry  was  the  inseparable  companion  of 
his  genius  in  its  hours  of  relaxation  from  the  labors  of  the  forum 
and  of  the  capitol. 

Like  him  he  loved  only  the  society  of  good  men,  and  by  his 
generous  praise  of  such,  illustrated  the  Roman's  beautiful  aphor- 
ism, that  no  one  can  be  envious  of  good  deeds,  who  has  confi- 
dence in  his  own  virtue.  Like  Cicero  he  kept  himself  unstained 
by  social  or  domestic  vices ;  preserved  serenity  and  cheerfulness ;: 
cherished  habitual  reverence  for  the  deity,  and  dwelt  continually,, 
not  on  the  mystic  theology  of  the  schools,  but  on  the  hopes  of  a 
better  life.  He  lived  in  what  will  be  regarded  as  the  virtuous- 
age  of  his  country,  while  Cicero  was  surrounded  by  an  over- 
whelming degeneracy.  He  had  the  light  of  Christianity  for  his 
guide ;  and  its  sublime  motives  as  incitements  to  virtue :  while 
Cicero  had  only  the  confused  instructions  of  the  Grecian  schools, 
and  saw  nothing  certainly  attainable  but  present  applause  and 
future  fame  In  moral  courage,  therefore,  he  excelled  his  model 
and  rivalled  Cato.  But  Cato  was  a  visionary,  who  insisted  upon 
his  right  to  act  always  without  reference  to  the  condition  of  man- 
kind, as  he  would  have  acted  in  Plato's  imaginary  republic. 
Adams  stood  in  this  respect  midway  between  the  impracticable 
stoic,  and  the  too  flexible  academician.  He  had  no  occasion  to 
say,  as  the  Grecian  orator  did,  that  if  he  had  sometimes  acted 
contrary  to  himself,  he  had  never  acted  contrary  to  the  republic ; 
but  he  might  justly  have  said,  as  the  noble  Roman  did,  "  I  have 
rendered  to  my  country  all  the  great  services  which  she  was 
willing  to  receive  at  my  hands,  and  I  have  never  harbored  a 
thought  concerning  her  that  was  not  divine." 

More  fortunate  than  Cicero,  who  fell  a  victim  of  civil  wars 
which  he  could  not  avert,  Adams  was  permitted  to  linger  on  the 
earth,  until  the  generations  of  that  future  age,  for  whom  he  had 
lived  and  to  whom  he  had  appealed  from  the  condemnation  of 
cotemporaries,  came  up  before  the  curtain  which  had  shut  out 
his  sight,  and  pronounced  over  him,  as  he  was  sinking  into  the 
grave,  their  judgment  of  approval  and  benediction. 

The  distinguished  characteristics  of  his  life  were  beneficent 
labor,  and  personal  contentment.  He  never  sought  wealth,  but 
devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  mankind.     Yet  by  the  practice 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  101 

of  frugality  and  method,  he  secured  the  enjoyment  of  dealing 
forth  continually  no  stinted  charities,  and  died  in  affluence.  He 
never  solicited  place  or  preferment,  and  had  no  partisan  com- 
binations or  even  connections;  yet  he  received  honors  which 
eluded  the  covetous  grasp  of  those  who  formed  parties,  rewarded 
friends,  and  proscribed  enemies  ;  and  he  filled  a  longer  period  of 
varied  and  distinguished  service  than  ever  fell  to  the  lot  of  any 
other  citizen.  In  every  state  of  this  progress  he  was  content. 
He  was  content  to  be  president,  minister,  representative,  or 
citizen. 

Stricken  in  the  midst  of  this  service,  in  the  very  act  of  rising 
to  debate,  he  fell  into  the  arms  of  conscript  fathers  of  the  repub- 
lic. A  long  lethargy  supervened  and  oppressed  his  senses.  Na- 
ture rallied  the  wasting  powers,  on  the  verge  of  the  grave,  for  a 
very  brief  period.  But  it  was  long  enough  for  him.  The  re- 
kindled eye  showed  that  the  re-collected  mind  was  clear,  calm, 
and  vigorous.  His  weeping  family,  and  his  sorrowing  compeers 
were  there.  He  surveyed  the  scene,  and  knew  at  once  its  fatal 
import.  He  had  left  no  duty  unperformed ;  he  had  no  wish  un- 
satisfied ;  no  ambition  unattained ;  no  regret,  no  sorrow,  no  fear, 
no  remorse.  He  could  not  shake  off  the  dews  of  death  that 
gathered  on  his  brow.  He  could  not  pierce  the  thick  shades  that 
rose  up  before  him.  But  he  knew  that  eternity  lay  close  by  the 
shores  of  time.  He  knew  that  his  Redeemer  lived.  Eloquence, 
even  in  that  hour,  inspired  him  with  his  ancient  sublimity  of 
utterance.  "Thfs,"  said  the  dying  man,  "This  is  the  last  of 
-earth."  He  paused  for  a  moment,  and  then  added,  "  I  am  con- 
tent." Angels  might  well  have  drawn  aside  the  curtains  of  the 
.skies  to  look  down  on  such  a  scene — a  scene  that  approximated 
even  to  that  scene  of  unapproachable  sublimity,  not  to  be  recalled 
without  reverence,  when  in  mortal  agony,  One  who  spake  as 
never  man  spake,  said,  "  It  is  finished." 

Only  two  years  after  the  birth  of  John  Quincy  Adams,  there 
appeared  on  an  island  in  the  Mediterranean  sea,  a  human  spirit 
newly-born,  endowed  with  equal  genius,  without  the  regulating 
qualities  of  justice  and  benevolence  which  Adams  possessed  in 
an  eminent  degree.  A  like  career  opened  to  both — born  like 
Adams,  a  subject  of  a  king — the  child  of  more  genial  skies,  like 
him,  became  in  early  life  a  patriot,  and  a  citizen  of  a  new  and 
great  republic.     Like  Adams  he  lent  his  service  to  the  state  in 


102  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

precocious  youth,  and  in  its  hour  of  need,  and  won  its  confidence. 
But,  unlike  Adams,  he  could  not  wait  the  dull  delays  of  slow 
and  laborious,  but  sure  advancement.  He  sought  power  by  the- 
hasty  road  that  leads  through  fields  of  carnage,  and  he  became, 
like  Adams,  a  supreme  magistrate,  a  consul.  But  there  were* 
other  consuls.  He  was  not  content.  He  thrust  them  aside,  and 
was  consul  alone.  Consular  power  was  too  short.  He  fought 
new  battles  and  was  consul  for  life.  But  power,  confessedly 
derived  from  the  people,  must  be  exercised  in  obedience  to  their 
will,  and  must  be  resigned  to  them  again,  at  least  in  death.  He 
was  not  content.  He  desolated  Europe  afresh,  subverted  the 
republic,  imprisoned  the  patriarch  who  presided  over  Rome's 
comprehensive  see,  and  obliged  him  to  pour  on  his  head  the 
sacred  oil  that  made  the  persons  of  kings  divine,  and  their  right 
to  reign  indefeasible.  He  was  an  emperor.  But  he  saw  around 
him  a  mother,  brothers,  and  sisters,  not  ennobled  ;  whose  humble 
state  reminded  him,  and  the  world,  that  he  was  born  a  plebeian ; 
and  he  had  no  heir  to  wait  impatient  for  the  imperial  crown. 
He  scourged  the  earth  again,  and  again  fortune  smiled  on  him 
even  in  his  wild  extravagance.  He  bestowed  kingdoms  and 
principalities  upon  his  kindred — put  away  the  devoted  wife  of 
his  youthful  days,  and  another,  a  daughter  of  Hapsburgh's  im- 
perial house,  joyfully  accepted  his  proud  alliance.  Offspring 
gladdened  his  anxious  sight ;  a  diadem  was  placed  pn  its  infant 
brow,  and  it  received  the  homage  of  princes,  even  in  its  cradle. 
Now  he  was  indeed  a  monarch  —  a  legitimate  monarch — a  mon- 
arch by  Divine  appointment — the  first  of  an  endless  succession 
of  monarchs.  But  there  were  other  monarchs  who  held  sway  in 
the  earth.  He  was  not  content.  He  would  reign  with  his  kin- 
dred alone.  He  gathered  new  and  greater  armies,  from  his  own 
land  —  from  subjugated  lands.  He  called  forth  the  young  and 
brave  —  one  from  every  household — from  the  Pyrenees  to  the 
Zuyder  Zee  —  from  Jura  to  the  ocean.  He  marshalled  them  into 
long  and  majestic  columns,  and  went  forth  to  seize  that  universal 
dominion,  which  seemed  almost  within  his  grasp.  But  ambition 
had  tempted  fortune  too  far.  The  nations  of  the  earth  resisted, 
repelled,  pursued,  surrounded  him..  The  pageant  was  ended. 
The  Crown  fell  from  his  presumptuous  head.  The  wife  who  had 
wedded  him  in  his  pride  forsook  him  when  the  hour  of  fear  came- 
upon  him.     His  child  was  ravished  from  his  sight.     His  kinsmen 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  103 

were  degraded  to  their  first  estate,  and  he  was  no  longer  emperor, 
nor  consul,  nor  general,  nor  even  a  citizen,  but  an  exile  and  a 
prisoner,  on  a  lonely  island,  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  Atlantic. 
Discontent  attended  him  there.  The  wayward  man  fretted  out  a 
few  long  years  of  his  yet  unbroken  manhood,  looking  off  at  the 
earliest  dawn  and  in  evening's  latest  twilight,  toward  that  distant 
world  that  had  only  j  ust  eluded  his  grasp.  His  heart  corroded. 
Death  came,  not  unlooked  for,  though  it  came  even  then  unwel- 
come. He  was  stretched  on  his  bed  within  the  fort  which  con- 
stituted his  prison.  A  few  fast  and  faithful  friends  stood  around, 
with  the  guards,  who  rejoiced  that  the  hour  of  relief  from  long 
and  wearisome  watching,  was  at  hand.  As  his  strength  wasted 
away,  delirium  stirred  up  the  brain  from  its  long  and  inglorious 
inactivity.  The  pageant  of  ambition  returned.  He  was  again  a 
lieutenant,  a  general,  a  consul,  an  emperor  of  France.  He  filled 
again  the  throne  of  Charlemagne.  His  kindred  pressed  around 
him,  again  reinvested  with  the  pompous  pageantry  of  royalty. 
The  daughter  of  the  long  line  of  kings  again  stood  proudly  by  his 
side,  and  the  sunny  face  of  his  child  shone  out  from  beneath  the 
diadem  that  encircled  its  flowing  locks.  The  marshals  of  the 
empire  awaited  his  command.  The  legions  of  the  old  guard 
were  in  the  field,  their  scarred  faces  rejuvenated,  and  their  ranks, 
thinned  in  many  battles,  replenished.  Russia,  Prussia,  Austria, 
Denmark,  and  England,  gathered  their  mighty  hosts  to  give  him 
battle.  Once  more  he  mounted  his  impatient  charger,  and 
rushed  forth  to  conquest.  He  waved  his  sword  aloft  and  cried 
"  Tete  d'armee  /"  The  feverish  vision  broke  —  the  mockery  was 
ended.  The  silver  cord  was  loosed,  and  the  warrior  fell  back 
upon  his  bed  a  lifeless  corpse.  This  was  the  last  of  earth.  The 
Corsican  was  not  content. 

Statesmen  and  citizens !     The  contrast  suggests  its  own  impres- 
sive moral. 


104:  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 


HENRY  CLAY. 

Fifty  years  ago,  Henry  Clay,  of  Yirginia,  already  adopted  by 
Kentucky,  then  as  youthful  as  himself,  entered  the  service  of  hie 
country,  a  representative  in  the  unpretending  legislature  of  that 
rising  state ;  and  having  thenceforward,  with  ardor  and  con- 
stancy, pursued  the  gradual  paths  of  an  aspiring  change  through 
halls  of  Congress,  foreign  courts,  and  executive  councils,  he  has 
now,  with  the  cheerfulness  of  a  patriot  and  the  serenity  of  a 
Christian,  fitly  closed  his  long  and  arduous  career,  here  in  the 
senate,  in  the  full  presence  of  the  republic,  looking  down  upon  the 
scene  with  anxiety  and  alarm,  not  merely  a  senator  like  one  of 
us  who  yet  remain  in  the  senate-house,  but  filling  that  character 
which,  though  it  had  no  authority  of  law  and  was  assigned  with- 
out suffrage,  Augustus  Caesar  nevertheless  declared  was  above 
the  title  of  emperor,  primus  inter  illusPres — the  prince  of  the 
senate. 

Generals  are  tried  by  examining  the  campaigns  they  have  lost 
or  won,  and  statesmen  by  reviewing  the  transactions  in  which 
they  have  been  engaged.  Hamilton  would  have  been  unknown 
to  us,  had  there  been  no  constitution  to  be  created ;  as  Brutus 
would  have  died  in  obscurity,  had  there  been  no  Caesar  to  be 
slain. 

Colonization,  revolution,  and  organization — three  great  acts  in 
the  drama  of  our  national  progress — had  already  passed  when 
the  western  patriot  appeared  on  the  public  stage.  He  entered 
in  that  next  division  of  the  majestic  scenes  which  was  marked 
by  an  inevitable  reaction  of  political  forces,  a  wild  strife  of  fac- 
tions and  ruinous  embarrassments  in  our  foreign  relations.  This 
transition  stage  is  always  more   perilous  than  any  other  in  the 

Note.— Henry  Clay  died  at  Washington,  June  29,  1852.     On  the  30th,  Mr.  Seward 
pronounced  this  eulogium  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States. 


HENRY  CLAY.  105 

career  of  nations,  and  especially  in  the  career  of  republics.  It 
proved  fatal  to  the  commonwealth  in  England.  Scarcely  any  of 
the  Spanish- American  states  have  yet  emerged  from  it;  and 
more  than  once  it  has  been  sadly  signalized  by  the  ruin  of  the 
republican  cause  in  France. 

The  continuous  administration  of  "Washington  and  John  Adams 
had  closed  under  a  cloud  which  had  thrown  a  broad,  dark  shadow 
over  the  future ;  the  nation  was  deeply  indebted  at  home  and 
abroad,  and  its  credit  was  prostrate.  The  Kevolutionary  factions 
had  given  place  to  two  inveterate  parties,  divided  by  a  gulf 
which  had  been  worn  by  the  conflict  in  which  the  constitution 
was  adopted,  and  made  broader  and  deeper  by  a  war  of  preju- 
dices concerning  the  merits  of  the  belligerents  in  the  great 
European  struggle  that  then  convulsed  the  civilized  world.  Our 
extraordinary  political  system  was  little  more  than  an  inge- 
nious theory,  not  yet  practically  established.  The  union  of  the 
states  was,  as  yet,  only  one  of  compact ;  for  the  political,  social, 
and  commercial  necessities  to  which  it  was  so  marvellously 
adapted,  and  which,  clustering  thickly  upon  it,  now  render  it 
indissoluble,  had  not  then  been  broadly  disclosed,  nor  had  the 
habits  of  acquiescence  and  the  sentiments  of  loyalty,  always  slow 
of  growth,  fully  ripened.  The  bark  that  had  gone  to  sea,  thus 
unfurnished  and  untried,  seemed  quite  certain  to  founder  by  rea- 
son of  its  own  inherent  frailty,  even  if  it  should  escape  unharmed 
in  the  great  conflict  of  nations  which  acknowledged  no  claims  of 
justice,  and  tolerated  no  pretensions  of  neutrality.  Moreover, 
the  territory  possessed  by  the  nation  was  inadequate  to  commer- 
cial exigencies  and  indispensable  social  expansion ;  and  yet  no 
provision  had  been  made  for  enlargement,  nor  for  extending  the 
political  system  over  distant  regions,  inhabited  or  otherwise, 
which  must  inevitably  be  acquired.  Nor  could  any  such  acqui- 
sition be  made,  without  disturbing  the  carefully-adjusted  balance 
of  powers  among  the  members  of  the  confederacy. 

These  difficulties,  although  they  grow  less  with  time  and  by 
slow  degrees,  continued  throughout  the  whole  life  of  the  states- 
man whose  obsequies  we  are  celebrating.  Be  it  known,  then, 
and  I  am  sure  that  history  will  confirm  the  instruction,  that  con- 
servatism was  the  interest  of  the  nation,  and  the  responsibility 
of  its  rulers,  during  the  period  in  which  he  flourished.  He  was 
ardent,  bold,  generous,  and  even  ambitious ;  and  yet  with  a  pro- 


106  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

found  conviction  of  the  true  exigencies  of  the  country,  like 
Alexander  Hamilton,  he  disciplined  himself  and  trained  a  restless 
nation,  that  knew  only  self-control,  to  the  rigorous  practice  of 
that  often  humiliating  conservatism  which  its  welfare  and  secu- 
rity in  that  peculiar  crisis  so  imperiously  demanded. 

It  could  not  have  happened  to  any  citizen  to  act  alone,  nor 
even  to  act  always  the  first  and  most  conspicuous  part  in  a  try- 
ing period  so  long  protracted.  Henry  Clay,  therefore,  shared 
the  responsibilities  of  government  with  not  only  his  proper  co- 
temporaries,  but  also  survivors  of  the  Revolution,  as  well  as  also 
many  who  will  succeed  himself.  Delicacy  forbids  the  naming 
of  those  who  retain  their  places  here,  but  we  may  without  impro- 
priety recall  among  his  compeers  a  senator  of  vast  resources  and 
inflexible  resolve,  who  has  recently  withdrawn  from  this  cham- 
ber, but  I  trust  not  altogether  from  public  life  [Mr.  Benton] ; 
and  another,  who,  surpassing  all  his  cotemporaries  within  his 
country,  and  even  throughout  the  world,  in  the  proper  eloquence 
of  the  forum,  now  in  autumnal  years  for  a  second  time  dignifies 
and  adorns  the  highest  seat  in  the  executive  council  [Mr.  Webster]. 
Passing  by  these  eminent  and  noble  men,  the  shades  of  Calhoun, 
John  Quincy  Adams,  Jackson,  Monroe,  and  Jefferson,  rise  up 
before  us  —  statesmen  whose  living  and  local  fame  has  ripened 
already  into  historical  and  world-wide  renown. 

Among  geniuses  so  lofty  as  these,  Henry  Clay  bore  a  part  in 
regulating  the  constitutional  freedom  of  political  debate ;  estab- 
lishing that  long-contested  and  most  important  line  which  divides 
the  sovereignty  of  the  several  states  from  that  of  the  states  con- 
federated ;  asserting  the  right  of  neutrality,  and  vindicating  it 
by  a  war  against  Great  Britain,  when  that  just  but  extreme 
measure  became  necessary ;  adjusting  the  terms  on  which  that 
perilous  yet  honorable  contest  was  brought  to  a  peaceful  close ; 
perfecting  the  army  and  the  navy,  and  the  national  fortifications ; 
settling  the  fiscal  and  financial  policy  of  the  government  in 
more  than  one  crisis  of  apparently  threatened  revolution  ;  assert- 
ing and  calling  into  exercise  the  powers  of  the  government  for 
making  and  improving  internal  communications  between  the 
states ;  arousing  and  encouraging  the  Spanish- American  colonies 
on  this  continent  to  throw  oft*  the  foreign  yoke,  and  to  organize 
governments  on  principles  congenial  to  our  own,  and  thus  cre- 
ating external  bulwarks  for  our  own  national  defence ;  establish- 


HENRY  CLAY.  107 

ing  equal  and  impartial  peace  and  amity  with  all  existing  mari- 
time powers ;  and  extending  the  constitutional  organization  of 
government  over  all  the  vast  regions  secured  in  his  lifetime  by 
purchase  or  by  conquest,  whereby  the  pillars  of  the  republic 
have  been  removed  from  the  banks  of  the  St.  Mary  to  the  bor- 
ders of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  from  the  margin  of  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Pacific  coast.  We  may  not  yet  discuss  here  the  wisdom 
of  the  several  measures  which  have  thus  passed  in  review  before 
us,  nor  of  the  positions  which  the  deceased  statesman  assumed 
in  regard  to  them,  but  we  may  without  offence  dwell  upon  the 
comprehensive  results  of  them  all. 

The  Union  exists  in  absolute  integrity,  and  the  republican  sys- 
tem is  in  complete  and  triumphant  development.  Without  hav- 
ing relinquished  any  part  of  their  individuality,  the  states  have 
more  than  doubled  already,  and  are  increasing  in  numbers  and 
political  strength  and  expansion  more  rapidly  than  ever  before- 
Without  having  absorbed  any  state,  or  having  even  encroached 
on  any  state,  the  confederation  has  opened  itself  so  as  to  embrace 
all  the  new  members  who  have  come,  and  now,  with  capacity  for 
further  and  indefinite  enlargements,  has  become  fixed,  enduringr 
and  perpetual.  Although  it  was  doubted,  only  half  a  century 
ago,  whether  our  political  system  could  be  maintained  at  all,  and 
whether,  if  maintained,  it  could  guaranty  the  peace  and  happi- 
ness of  society,  it  stands  now  confessed  by  the  world  the  form 
of  government  not  only  most  adapted  to  empire,  but  also  most 
congenial  with  the  constitution  of  human  nature. 

When  we  consider  that  the  nation  has  been  conducted  to  this 
haven,  not  only  through  stormy  seas,  but  altogether,  also,  with- 
out a  course  and  without  a  star ;  and  when  we  consider,  more- 
over, the  sum  of  happiness  that  has  already  been  enjoyed  by  the 
American  people,  and  still  more  the  influence  which  the  great 
achievement  is  exerting  for  the  advancement  and  melioration  of 
the  condition  of  mankind,  we  see  at  once  that  it  might  have  sat- 
isfied the  highest  ambition  to  have  been,  no  matter  how  humbly, 
concerned  in  so  great  a  transaction. 

Certainly,  sir,  no  one  will  assert  that  Henry  Clay,  in  that  trans- 
action, performed  an  obscure  or  even  a  common  part.  On  the 
contrary,  from  the  day  on  which  he  entered  the  public  service 
untjl  that  on  which  he  passed  the  gates  of  death,  he  was  never  a 
follower,  but  always  a  leader ;  and  he  marshalled  either  the  party 


108  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

which  sustained  or  that  which  resisted  every  great  measure, 
equally  in  the  senate  and  among  the  people.  He  led  where  duty 
seemed  to  him  to  indicate,  reckless  whether  he  encountered  one 
president  or  twenty  presidents,  whether  he  was  opposed  by  fac- 
tions or  even  by  the  whole  people.  Hence  it  has  happened,  that 
although  that  people  are  not  yet  agreed  among  themselves  on  the 
wisdom  of  all,  or  perhaps  of  even  any  of  his  great  measures,  yet 
they  are  nevertheless  unanimous  in  acknowledging  that  he  was 
at  once  the  greatest,  the  most  faithful,  and  the  most  reliable  of 
their  statesmen.  Here  the  effort  at  discriminating  praise  of 
Henry  Clay,  in  regard  to  his  public  policy,  must  stop  in  this 
place,  even  on  this  sad  occasion  which  awakens  the  ardent 
liberality  of  his  generous  survivors. 

But  his  personal  qualities  may  be  discussed  without  apprehen- 
sion. What  were  the  elements  of  the  success  of  that  extraordi- 
nary man?  You,  sir,  knew  him  longer  and  better  than  I,  and  I 
would  prefer  to  hear  you  speak  of  them.  He  was  indeed  elo- 
quent—  all  the  world  knows  that.  He  held  the  keys  to  the 
hearts  of  his  countrymen,  and  he  turned  the  wards  within  them 
with  a  skill  attained  by  no  other  master. 

But  eloquence  was,  nevertheless,  only  an  instrument,  and  one 
of  many  that  he  used.  His  Conversation,  his  gesture,  his  very 
look  was  persuasive, .seductive,  irresistible.  And  his  appliance 
of  all  these  was  courteous,  patient,  and  indefatigable.  Defeat 
only  inspired  him  with  new  resolution.  He  divided  opposition 
by  his  assiduity  of  address,  while  he  rallied  and  strengthened  his 
own  bands  of  supporters  by  the  confidence  of  success  which, 
feeling  himself,  he  easily  inspired  among  his  followers.  His 
affections  were  high,  and  pure,  and  generous,  and  the  chiefest 
among  them  was  that  which  the  great  Italian  poet  desig- 
nated as  the  charity  of  native  land.  And  in  him  that  charity 
was  an  enduring  and  overpowering  enthusiasm,  and  it  influ 
enced  all  his  sentiments  and  conduct,  rendering  him  more 
impartial  between  conflicting  interests  and  sections  than  any 
other  statesman  who  has  lived  since  the  Revolution.  Thus,  with 
very  great  versatility  of  talent  and  the  most  catholic  equality  of 
favor,  he  identified  every  question,  whether  of  domestic  admin- 
istration or  foreign  policy,  with  his  own  great  name,  and  so 
became  a  perpetual  tribune  of  the  people.  He  needed  only  to 
pronounce  in  favor  of  a  measure  or  against  it,  here,  and  imme- 


HENRY  CLAY.  10^ 

diately  popular  enthusiasm,  excited  as  by  a  magic  wand,  was 
felt,  overcoming  all  opposition  in  the  senate-chamber. 

In  this  way  he  wrought  a  change  in  our  political  system,  that  I 
think  was  not  foreseen  by  its  founders.  He  converted  this 
branch  of  the  legislature  from  a  negative  position,  or  one  of 
equilibrium  between  the  executive  and  the  house  of  representa- 
tives, into  the  acting,  ruling  power  of  the  republic.  Only  time 
can  disclose  whether  this  great  innovation  shall  be  beneficent,  or 
even  permanent. 

Certainly,  sir,  the  great  lights  of  the  senate  have  set.  The 
obscuration  is  not  less  palpable  to  the  country  than  to  us,  who 
are  left  to  grope  our  uncertain  way  here,  as  in  a  labyrinth, 
oppressed  with  self-distrust.  The  times,  too,  present  new  embar- 
rassments. We  are  rising  to  another  and  a  more  sublime  stage 
of  natural  progress — that  of  extending  wealth  and  rapid  territo- 
rial aggrandizement.  Our  institutions  throw  a  broad  shadow 
across  the  St.  Lawrence,  which  stretching  beyond  the  valley  of 
Mexico,  reaches  even  to  the  plains  of  Central  America ;  while 
the  Sandwich  Islands  and  the  shores  of  China  recognise  its  reno- 
vating influence.  Wherever  that  influence  is  felt,  a  desire  for 
protection  under  those  institutions  is  awakened.  Expansion 
seems  to  be  regulated,  not  by  any  difficulties  of  resistance,  but 
by  the  moderation  which  results  from  our  own  internal  constitu- 
tion. No  one  knows  how  rapidly  that  restraint  may  give  way. 
Who  can  tell  how  far  or  fast  it  ought  to  yield?  Commerce  has 
brought  the  ancient  continents  near  to  us,  and  created  necessi- 
ties for  new  positions — perhaps  connections  or  colonies  there  — 
and,  with  the  trade  and  friendship  of  the  elder  nations,  their  con- 
flicts and  collisions  are  brought  to  our  doors  and  to  our  hearts. 
Our  sympathy  kindles,  our  indifference  extinguishes,  the  fire  of 
freedom  in  foreign  lands.  Before  we  shall  be  fully  conscious 
that  a  change  is  going  on  in  Europe,  we  may  find  ourselves  once 
more  divided  by  that  eternal  line  of  separation  that  leaves  on 
the  one  side  those  of  our  citizens  who  obey  the  impulses  of  sym- 
pathy, while  on  the  other  are  found  those  who  submit  only  to 
the  counsels  of  prudence.  Even  prudence  will  soon  be  required 
to  decide  whether  distant  regions,  east  and  west,  shall  come 
under  our  own  protection,  or  be  left  to  aggrandize  a  rapidly- 
spreading  and  hostile  domain  of  despotism. 

Sir,  who  among  us  is  equal  to  these  mighty  questions?    I  fear 


110  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

there  is  no  one.  Nevertheless,  the  example  of  Henry  Clay 
remains  for  our  instruction.  His  genius  has  passed  to  the  realms 
of  light,  but  his  virtues  still  live  here  for  our  emulation.  With 
them  there  will  remain  also  the  protection  and  favor  of  the  Most 
High,  if  by  the  practice  of  justice  and  the  maintenance  of  free- 
dom we  shall  deserve  it.  Let  then,  the  bier  pass  on.  With  sor- 
row, but  not  without  hope,  we  will  follow  the  revered  form  that 
it  bears  to  its  final  resting-place ;  and  then,  when  that  grave 
opens  at  our  feet  to  receive  such  an  inestimable  treasure,  we 
will  invoke  the  God  of  our  fathers  to  send  us  new  guides, 
like  him  that  is  withdrawn,  and  give  us  wisdom  to  obey  their 
instructions. 


DANIEL  WEBSTER.  Ill 


>v     or  the       nr    >v 


!L  WEBSTER 


When,  in  passing  through  Savoy,  I  reached  the  eminence 
where  the  traveller  is  promised  his  first  distinct  view  of  Mont 
Blanc,  I  asked,  "Where  is  the  mountain?"  —  "There,"  said  the 
guide,  pointing  to  the  rainy  sky  which  stretched  out  before  me. 
It  is  even  so,  when  we  approach  and  attempt  to  scan  accurately 
a  great  character.  Clouds  gather  upon  it,  and  seem  to  take  it 
up  out  of  our  sight. 

Daniel  Webster  was  a  man  of  warm  and  earnest  affections,  in 
all  the  domestic  and  social  relations.  Purely  incidental  and 
natural  allusions  in  his  conversations,  letters,  and  speeches,  have 
made  us  familiar  with  the  very  pathways  about  his  early  moun- 
tain home ;  with  his  mother,  graceful,  intellectual,  fond,  and 
pious ;  with  his  father,  assiduous,  patriotic,  and  religious,  changing 
his  pursuits,  as  duty  in  Revolutionary  times  commanded,  from 
the  farm  to  the  camp,  and  from  the  camp  to  the  provincial  legis- 
lature and  the  constituent  assembly.  It  seems  as  if  we  could 
recognise  the  very  form  and  features  of  the  most  constant  and 
generous  of  brothers.  Nor  are  we  strangers  at  Marshfield.  Wc 
are  guests  hospitably  admitted,  and  then  left  to  wander  at  our 
ease  under  the  evergreens  on  the  lawn,  over  the  grassy  fields, 
through  the  dark  native  forest,  and  along  the  seashore.  We 
know,  almost  as  well  as  we  know  our  own,  the  children  reared 
there,  and  fondly  loved,  and  therefore,  perhaps,  early  lost;  the 
servants  bought  from  bondage,  and  held  by  the  stronger  chains 
of  gratitude ;  the  careful  steward,  always  active,  yet  never  hur- 
ried ;  the  reverent  neighbor,  always  welcome,  yet  never  obtrusive ; 
and  the  ancient  fisherman,  whose  little  fleet  is  .ever  ready  for  the 

Note. — Daniel  Webster  died  at  Marshfield,  October  24,  1852.  Mr.  Seward  pro- 
nounced this  eulogi  run  on  Mr.  Webster's  character,  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States, 
on  the  14th  day  of  December,  1852. 


112  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

sports  of  the  sea ;  and  we  meet  on  every  side  the  watchful  and 
devoted  friends  whom  no  frequency  of  disappointment  can  dis- 
courage, and  whom  even  the  death  of  their  great  patron  can  not 
all  at  once  disengage  from  efforts  which  know  no  balancing  of 
probabilities,  nor  reckoning  of  cost,  to  secure  his  elevation  to  the 
first  honors  of  the  Republic. 

"Who,  that  was  even  confessedly  provincial,  was  ever  so  identi- 
fied with  anything  local  as  Daniel  Webster  was  with  the  spindles 
of  Lowell,  and  the  quarries  of  Quincy ;  with  Faneuil  Hall,  Bun- 
ker Hill,  Forefathers'  Day,  Plymouth  Rock,  and  whatever  else 
belonged  to  Massachusetts  ?  And  yet,  who  that  was  most  truly 
national  has  ever  so  sublimely  celebrated,  or  so  touchingly  com- 
mended to  our  reverent  affection,  our  broad  and  ever-broadening 
continental  home ;  its  endless  rivers,  majestic  mountains,  and 
capacious  lakes ;  its  inimitable  and  indescribable  constitution ; 
its  cherished  and  growing  capital ;  its  aptly-conceived  and  expres- 
sive flag,  and  its  trkimphs  by  land  and  sea ;  and  its  immortal 
founders,  heroes,  and  martyrs !  How  manifest  it  was,  too,  that, 
unlike  those  who  are  impatient  of  slow  but  sure  progress,  he 
loved  his  country,  not  for  something  greater  or  higher  that  he 
desired  or  hoped  she  might  be,  but  just  for  what  she  was,  and  as 
she  was  already,  regardless  of  future  change. 

No,  sir ;  believe  me,  they  err  widely  who  say  that  Daniel  Web- 
ster was  cold  and  passionless.  It  is  true  that  he  had  little  en- 
thusiasm ;  but  he  was  nevertheless  earnest  and  sincere,  as  well  as 
calm ;  and  therefore  he  was  both  discriminating  and  comprehen- 
sive in  his  affections.  We  recognise  his  likeness  in  the  portrait 
drawn  by  a  Roman  pencil :  — 


"Who  with  nice  discernment  knows 

What  to  his  country  and  his  friends  he  owes; 
How  various  Nature  warms  the  human  breast, 
To  love  the  parent,  brother,  friend,  or  guest, 
What  the  great  offices  of  judges  are, 
Of  senators,  of  generals  sent  to  war." 

Daniel  Webster  was  cheerful,  and  on  becoming  occasions 
joyous,  and  even  mirthful ;  but  he  was  habitually  engaged  in 
profound  studies  on  great  affairs.  He  was,  moreover,  constitu- 
tionally fearful  of  the  dangers  of  popular  passion  and  prejudice : 
and  so,  in  public  walk,  conversation,  and  debate,  he  was  grave  and 
serious,  even  to  solemnity ;  yet  he  never  desponded  in  the  dark- 


DANIEL  WEBSTER.  113 

est  hours  of  personal  or  political  trial ;  and  melancholy  never,  in 
health  nor  even  in  sickness,  spread  a  pall  over  his  spirits. 

It  must  have  been  very  early  that  he  acquired  that  just  esti- 
mate of  his  own  powers  which  was  the  basis  of  a  self-reliance 
which  all  the  world  saw  and  approved,  and  which,  while  it 
betrayed  no  feature  of  vanity,  none  but  a  superficial  observer 
could  have  mistaken  for  pride  or  arrogance. 

Daniel  Webster  was  no  sophist.  With  a  talent  for  didactic 
instruction  which  might  have  excused  dogmatism,  he  never  lec- 
tured on  the  questions  of  morals  that  are  agitated  in  the  schools. 
But  he  seemed,  nevertheless,  to  have  acquired  a  philosophy  of 
his  own,  and  to  have  made  it  the  rule  and  guide  of  his  life. 
That  philosophy  consisted  in  improving  his  powers  and  his 
tastes,  so  that  he  might  appreciate  whatever  was  good  and  beau- 
tiful in  nature  and  art,  and  attain  to  whatever  was  excellent  in 
conduct.  He  had  accurate  perceptions  of  the  qualities  and  rela- 
tions of  things.  He  overvalued  nothing  that  was  common,  and 
undervalued  nothing  that  was  useful,  or  even  ornamental.  His 
lands,  his  cattle,  and  equipage,  his  dwelling,  library,  and  apparel, 
his  letters,  arguments,  and  orations  —  everything  that  he  hadr 
everything  that  he  made,  everything  that  he  did,  was  as  far  as 
possible  fit,  complete,  perfect.  He  thought  decorous  forms 
necessary  for  preserving  whatever  was  substantial  or  valuable  in 
politics  and  morals,  and  even  in  religion.  In  his  regard,  order 
was  the  first  law,  and  peace  the  chief  blessing  of  earth,  as  they 
are  of  heaven.  Therefore,  while  he  desired  justice  and  loved 
liberty,  he  reverenced  law  as  the  first  divinity  of  states  and  of 
society. 

Daniel  Webster  was,  indeed,  ambitious,  but  his  ambition  was 
generally  subordinate  to  conventional  forms,  and  always  to  the 
constitution.  He  aspired  to  place  and  preferment,  but  not  for 
the  mere  exercise  of  political  power,  and  still  less  for  pleasura- 
ble indulgences ;  and  only  for  occasions  to  save  or  serve  his 
country,  and  for  the  fame  which  such  noble  actions  might  bring. 
Who  will  censure  such  ambition?  Who  had  greater  genius 
subjected  to  severer  discipline?  What  other  motives  than  those 
of  ambition  could  have  brought  that  genius  into  activity  under 
that  discipline,  and  sustained  that  activity  so  equally  under  ever 
changing  circumstances  so  long?  His  ambition  never  fell  off 
into  presumption.     He  was,  on   the  contrarv,  content  with  per- 

Yol.  III.— 8 


114  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

forming  all  practical  duties,  even  in  common  affairs,  in  the  best 
possible  manner ;  and  he  never  chafed  under  petty  restraints  from 
those  above,  nor  malicious  annoyances  from  those  around  him. 
If  ever  any  man  had  intellectual  superiority  which  could  have 
excused  a  want  of  deference  to  human  authority,  or  skepticism 
concerning  that  which  was  divine,  he  was  such  a  one.  Yet  he 
was,  nevertheless,  unassuming  and  courteous,  here  and  elsewhere, 
in  the  public  councils;  and  there  was,  I  think,  never  a  time  in 
his  life  when  he  was  not  an  unquestioning  believer  in  that  reli- 
gion which  offers  to  the  meek  the  inheritance  of  the  heavenly 
kingdom. 

Daniel  Webster's  mind  was  not  subtle,  but  it  was  clear.  It 
was  surpassingly  logical  in  the  exercise  of  induction,  and  equally 
vigorous  and  majestic  in  all  its  movements  ;  and  yet  he  possessed 
an  imagination  so  strong,  that,  if  it  had  been  combined  with  even 
a  moderated  enthusiasm  of  temper,  would  have  overturned  the 
excellent  balance  of  his  powers. 

The  civilian  rises,  in  this  as  in  other  republics,  by  the  practice 
of  eloquence,  and  so  Daniel  Webster  became  an  orator — the 
first  of  orators. 

Whatever  else  concerning  him  has  been  controverted  by  any- 
body, the  fifty  thousand  lawyers  of  the  United  States,  interested 
to  deny  his  pretensions,  conceded  to  him  an  unapproachable 
supremacy  at  the  bar.  How  did  he  win  that  high  place  ?  Where 
others  studied  laboriously,  he  meditated  intensely.  Where  others 
appealed  to  the  prejudices  and  passions  of  courts  and  juries,  he 
addressed  only  their  understandings.  Where  others  lost  them- 
selves among  the  streams,  he  ascended  to  the  fountain.  While 
they  sought  the  rules  of  law  among  conflicting  precedents,  he 
found  them  in  the  eternal  principles  of  reason  and  justice. 

But  it  is  conceding  too  much  to  the  legal  profession  to  call 
Daniel  Webster  a  lawyer.  Lawyers  speak  for  clients  and  their 
interests  —  he  seemed  always  to  be  speaking  for  his  country  and 
for  truth.  So  he  rose  imperceptibly  above  his  profession ;  and 
while  yet  in  the  forum,  he  stood  before  the  world  a  publicist.  In 
this  felicity,  he  resembled,  while  he  surpassed,  Erskine,  who 
taught  the  courts  at  Westminster  the  law  of  moral  responsibility ; 
and  he  approached  Hamilton,  who  educated  the  courts  at  Wash- 
ington in  the  constitution  of  their  country  and  the  philosophy  of 
government. 


DANIEL  WEBSTER.  115 

An  undistinguishable  line  divides  this  high  province  of  the 
forum  from  the  senate,  to  which  his  philosophy  and  eloquence 
were  perfectly  adapted.  Here,  in  times  of  stormy  agitation  and 
bewildering  excitement,  when  as  yet  the  union  of  these  states 
seemed  not  to  have  been  cemented  and  consolidated,  and  its  dis- 
solution seemed  to  hang,  if  not  on  the  immediate  result  of  the 
debate,  at  least  upon  the  popular  passion  that  that  result  must 
generate,  Daniel  Webster  put  forth  his  mightiest  efforts,  con- 
fessedly the  greatest  ever  put  forth  here  or  on  this  continent. 
Those  efforts  produced  marked  effect  on  the  senate  ;  they  soothed 
the  public  mind,  and  became  enduring  lessons  of  instruction 
to  our  countrymen  on  the  science  of  constitutional  law,  and  the 
relative  powers  and  responsibilities  of  the  government,  and  the 
rights  and  duties  of  the  states  and  of  citizens. 

Tried  by  ancient  definitions,  Daniel  Webster  was  not  an  orator. 
He  studied  no  art,  and  practised  no  action.  •  Nor  did  he  form 
himself  by  any  admitted  model.  He  had  neither  the  directness 
and  vehemence  of  Demosthenes,  nor  the  fullness  and  flow  of 
Cicero,  nor  the  intenseness  of  Milton,  nor  the  magnificence  of 
Burke.  It, was  happy  for  him  that  he  had  not.  The  temper  and 
tastes  of  his  age  and  country  required  eloquence  different  from 
all  these,  and  they  found  it  in  the  pure  logic,  and  the  vigorous 
yet  massive  rhetoric,  which  constituted  the  style  of  Daniel 
Webster. 

Daniel  Webster,  although  a  statesman,  did  not  aim  to  be  either 
a  popular  or  a  parliamentary  leader.  He  left  common  affairs  and 
questions  to  others,  and  reserved  himself  for  those  great  and 
infrequent  occasions  which  seemed  to  involve  the  prosperity  or 
the  continuance  of  the  republic.  On  these  occasions  he  rose 
above  partisan  influences  and  alliances,  and  gave  his  counsels 
earnestly  and  with  impassioned  solemnity,  and  always  with  an 
unaffected  reliance  upon  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  his 
countrymen. 

The  first  revolutionary  assembly  that  convened  in  Boston, 
promulgated  the  principles  of  the  revolution  of  1688  —  "resist- 
ance to  unjust  laws  is  obedience  to  God"  —  and  it  became  the 
watchword  throughout  the  colonies.  Under  that  motto  the 
colonies  dismembered  the  British  empire,  and  erected  the  Ameri- 
can republic.  At  an  early  day,  it  seemed  to  Daniel. Webster, 
that  the  habitual  cherishing  of  that  principle,  after  its  great  work 


116  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

had  been  consummated,  threatened  to  subvert,  in  its  turn,  the 
free  and  beneficent  constitution,  which  afforded  the  highest 
attainable  security  against  the  passage  of  unjust  laws.  He  ad- 
dressed himself,  therefore,  assiduously,  and  almost  alone,  to  what 
seemed  to  him  the  duty  of  calling  the  American  people  back  from 
revolutionary  theories  to  the  formation  of  habits  of  peace,  order, 
and  submission  to  authority.  He  inculcated  the  duty  of  submis- 
sion by  states  and  citizens  to  all  laws  passed  within  the  province 
of  constitutional  authority,  and  of  absolute  reliance  on  constitu- 
tional remedies  for  the  correction  of  all  errors,  and  the  redress  of 
all  injustice.  This  was  the  political  gospel  of  Daniel  Webster.  He 
preached  it  in  season  and  out  of  season,  boldly,  constantly,  with 
the  zeal  of  an  apostle,  and  with  the  devotion,  if  there  were  need,, 
of  a  martyr.  It  was  full  of  saving  influences  while  he  lived,  and 
those  influences  will  last  so  long  as  the  constitution  and  the 
Union  shall  endure.- 

I  do  not  dwell  on  Daniel  Webster's  exercise  of  administrative 
functions.  It  was  marked  by  the  same  ability  that  distinguished 
all  his  achievements  in  other  fields  of  duty.  It  was  at  the  same 
time  eminently  conservative  of  peace,  and  of  the  great  principles 
of  constitutional  liberty,  on  which  the  republican  institutions  of 
his  country  were  founded.  But  while  those  administrative  ser- 
vices benefited  his  country,  and  increased  his  fame,  we  all  felt, 
nevertheless,  that  his  proper  and  highest  place  was  here,  where 
there  was  field  and  scope  for  his  philosophy,  and  his  eloquence — 
here,  among  the  equal  representatives  of  equal  states,  which  were 
at  once  to  be  held  together,  and  to  be  moved  on  in  the  establish- 
ment of  a  continental  power  controlling  all  the  American  states, 
and  balancing  those  of  the  eastern  world,  and  we  could  not  but 
exclaim,  in  the  words  of  the  Roman  orator,  when  we  saw  him 
leave  the  legislative  councils  to  enter  on  the  office  of  adminis- 
tration ;  "  Quantis  in  augustiis,  vestra  gloria  se  dilatari  velit." 


DAVID  BERDAN.  117 


DAYID   BEKDAIST 


Note. — The  following  eulogy  was  read  before  the  Adelphic  Society  of  Union  College, 
July  21,  1828,  and  was  first  published  in  1839,  in  the  December  number  of  the  Knick- 
erbocker Magazine.     It  is  there  introduced  with  the  following  note : — 

Albany,  October  28,  1839. 

My  Dear  Sir:  The  manuscript  which  has  been  put  into  your  possession,  by  the 
relatives  of  David  Bekdan,  was  hastily  prepared,  in  the  midst  of  professional  duties. 
The  Adelphic  Society  requested  me  to  furnish  a  copy  for  publication.  I  intended  to 
comply  with  the  request,  but  postponed  doing  so,  until  I  should  have  leisure  to  make 
the  memoir  more  worthy  of  the  public  attention.  I  could  not,  in  the  meantime,  refuse  a 
-copy  to  the  relatives  of  the  deceased.  I  have  long  regretted  that  I  suffered  the  proper 
time  for  publication  to  pass,  because  I  knew  that,  imperfect  as  my  sketch  was,  the 
extracts  from  Berdan's  correspondence  would  render  the  memoir  interesting  to  his 
irinnds.  I  return  you  the  manuscript.  You  can  better  judge  whether  it  has  sufficient 
interest  to  entitle  it  to  a  place  in  your  excellent  periodical;  but  I  shall  feel  that  its. 
publication  relieves  me  in  some  degree  from  the  painful  recollection  of  injustice  to  the 
memory  of  an  early  and  devoted  friend.  I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  sincerely, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 

Lewis  Gaylord  Clark,  Esq.,  Editor  of  the  Knickerbocker. 

The  Adelphic  Society  has  to-day  erected  a  monument  on  the 
college  grounds,  to  the  memory  of  David  Berdan,  who  died  on 
his  passage  from  London  to  Boston,  on  the  twentieth  day  of  July, 
1827.  I  have  been  requested  to  pronounce  an  eulogium  upon 
the  friend  whose  memory  has  been  thus  honored.  This  duty  is 
to  be  performed  under  unfavorable  circumstances.  I  have  come, 
with  a  chastened  spirit,  to  speak  of  the  disappointments  and  cares 
of  that  world,  upon  which  those  who  have  called  me  hither  are 
eager  to  enter.  Although  both  the  subject  of  my  memoir  and 
myself  were  once  accustomed  to  the  scenes  around  me,  I  stand 
here  now  a  stranger,  to  speak  of  one  no  less  a  stranger  than  my- 
self. It  will  be  difficult  to  render  interesting  the  history  of  a 
joung  man,  of  whom  most  of  my  audience  have  never  heard, 
who  neither  won,  nor  sought  the  honors  awarded  here  to  scholas- 
tic attainments,  and  whose  talents  and  worth  were  unknown, 
except  by  bosom  friends.  The  occasion,  however,  has  called 
caround  me  several  of  those  friends,  and  their  presence  encourages 


118  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

me.  I  can  not  speak  an  eulogium.  I  will  give  a  brief  narrative 
of  his  life,  not  doubting  that  all  who  hear  me  will  agree  that 
simplicity  best  becomes  my  subject. 

David  Berdan  joined  the  freshman  class  in  Union  College,  and 
became  a  member  of  the  Adelphic  Society,  in  1817.  He  was 
then  in  his  fifteenth  year.  He  had  a  downcast  air,  unassuming 
deportment,  and  retiring  manners.  His  temper  was  cheerful,  his- 
conversation  animated,  and  enthusiastic,  and  his  disposition  gen- 
tle and  confiding.  Although  I  was  two  years  his  senior,  in  age 
and  in  the  collegiate  course,  I  enjoyed  a  kind  and  courteous 
intercourse  with  him.  Our  friendship  was  formed  in  later  years. 
I  have  found  it  necessary  to  say  thus  much  concerning  myself, 
because  the  materials  for  this  memoir  were  chiefly  supplied  by 
my  own  recollection,  and  his  letters  remaining  with  me. 

He  soon  gave  evidence  of  intellectual  powers  which  had  been 
highly  improved  by  study,  and  habits  of  reflection.  He  wrote 
and  spoke  with  ease  and  elegance.  It  is  impossible  to  ascertain 
at  what  period  he  first  indulged  a  desire  for  literary  pursuits. 
But  it  was  obvious,  during  his  residence  here,  that  all  distinc- 
tions, other  than  those  attainable  in  that  department,  were  worth- 
less in  his  esteem.  Collegiate  honors  never  excited  his  emulation. 
The  Adelphic  Society  then  afforded,  as  I  trust  it  does  now,  a. 
field  for  youthful  ambition ;  but  he  never  sought,  and  I  doubt 
whether  he  ever  held,  any  of  its  high  places.  Yet  he  was  not 
indolent.  On  the  contrary,  he  often  excelled,  while  he  seemed 
always  desirous  to  avoid  praise.  He  used  to  be  found  in  the 
society's  library,  taking  copious  extracts,  and  he  delighted  in 
pursuing  the  discussions  left  incomplete  in  the  volumes  around 
him.  He  was  especially  happy  in  the  study  of  the  ancient  clas- 
sics, always  reading  them  in  the  spirit  of  the  original,  and  his 
translations  were  distinguished  for  their  freedom  and  elegance. 
He  may  have  failed  to  rehearse  a  lecture  in  Blair's  Rhetoric, 
without  pausing  for  breath,  and  may  have  lost  many  a  link  in 
the  analysis  of  Kaime's  Elements  regularly  committed  by  the 
students ;  but  neither  the  learned  professor,  nor  the  venerated 
president,  ever  detected  in  his  essays  a  violation  of  the  rules  of 
composition  prescribed  in  those  works.  He  held  the  sceptre  of 
criticism  among  us,  but  he  exercised  his  authority  with  gentle- 
ness, forbearance,  and  delicacy.  Although  not  a  controversialist^ 
he  was  occasionally  felicitous  in  debate,  mingling  philosophical 


DAVID  BERDAN.  119 

reflections  with  illustrations  derived  from  classic  history  and 
poetry.  But  his  chief  superiority  was  in  his  essays.  He  never 
selected  low  or  common  subjects.  His  style  was  perspicuous 
and  chaste ;  and  while  his  exercise,  judging  from  its  care  and 
freedom,  seemed  to  have  been  the  amusement  of  a  vacant  hour, 
it  abounded  in  original  thoughts,  and  was  polished  with  classic 
elegance. 

He  early  manifested  a  reluctance  to  engage  in  active  pursuits, 
and  to  be  concerned  with  the  ordinary  interests  of  society.  But 
this  reluctance  did  not  assimilate  to  the  disgust  which  genius  some- 
times feels,  and  more  often  affects,  for  humble  and  useful  occupa- 
tions ;  nor  did  it  proceed  from  that  morbid  misanthropy,  mani- 
fested by  weak  minds  embittered  by  disappointment.  On  the 
contrary,  he  despised  nothing  but  what  was  vicious ;  he  knew  no 
envy,  and  affectation  never  dwelt  in  a  heart  so  humble  as  his. 
Elis  aversion  to  the  business  of  life  arose  from  his  devotion  to 
books,  and  to  nature.  His  mind  was  contemplative,  and  his 
friends  were  always  subdued,  by  his  conversation,  from  merri- 
ment to  chastened  sentiment  and  feeling.  His  correspondence 
is  ricli  in  illustrations  of  this  characteristic.  The  following  is  an 
extract  from  a  letter  written  at  New  York,  when  he  was  in  his 
nineteenth  year.     He  says  : — 

"Do  not  your  feelings  undergo  a  daily  change  from  the  operation  of  the  many  cir- 
cumstances to  which  you  are  constantly  exposed  ?  What  everybody  else  calls  trifling, 
is  of  some  consequence  to  me,  because  there  is  nothing  that  I  regard  with  indifference, 
and  consequently  nothing  but  what  produces  some  effect  upon  me.  I  should  have  to 
write  to  you  every  day,  to  make  you  acquainted  with  my  feelings.  Do  not  judgA, 
then,  if  I  write  despondingly,  that  I  uniformly  experience  this  depression.  Judge 
rather,  that  it  is  only  a  temporary  gloom,  which  will  soon  be  dissipated,  and  which 
will  perhaps  be  succeeded  by  extraordinary  exhilaration.  I  very  often  find  alleviation 
for  the  soreness  of  my  troubles,  in  a  walk  along  the  shore.  I  have  there  represented 
my  present  griefs  as  of  such  little  consequence  in  the  estimate  of  human  suffering,  and  in 
the  certainty  of  their  eventual  termination,  that  I  enjoyed  without  bitterness  the 
freshness  of  the  breeze,  and  looked  without  anguish  on  the  magnificent  river  that  sent 
its  swelling  surges -to  my  feet.  I  have  never  indulged  any  repining,  when  I  have 
beheld  the  setting  of  the  sun.  All  my  thoughts  are  then  directed  to  the  Being  who 
created  such  a  luminary,  as  a  proof  of  his  goodness,  no  less  than  of  his  power,  and  I 
feel  elevated  above  the  petty  concerns  of  earthly  occupation.  Perhaps  the  trouble  of 
mind  which  induced  me  to  take  a  solitary  ramble  along  the  beach,  caused  me  to  regard 
the  works  of  nature  with  more  enthusiasm,  because,  disgusted  with  those  I  had  left 
behind,  I  felt  anxious  to  lift  myself  above  present  calamity,  and  to  cheat  myself  with 
visionary  anticipations.  There  is  one  peculiarity  in  the  effect  of  these  sensations  upon 
me.  It  arises  from  their  permanency.  Such  feelings  as  I  experience,  are  doubtless 
universal,  but  they  are  seldom  of  long  continuance.  They  scarcely  ever  endure  after  a 
change  of  scene,  or  after  the  first  active  impression  is  effaced.  I  have,  on  my  return 
from  such  walks,  still  experienced  that  religious  tranquillity  of  spirit  which  such  con- 
templations will  inspire,  and  have,  until  a£ain  allowed  to  visit  those  scenes,  preserved* 
in  almost  their  primitive  force,  the  impressions  which  were  then  produced.  Does  not 
all  thio  show  that  I  am  unfit  for  contention  with  the  troubles  of  society  V 


120  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

In  another  letter,  he  says : 

"I  am  not  of  opinion  that  God  is  ever  arbitrarily  controlling  our  smallest  action^ 
and  manifesting  his  power  in  every  casualty,  yet  I  enjoy  an  indefinable  species  of 
■emotion  in  regarding  the  grand  and  sublime  productions  of  the  Deity.  I  look  upon 
the  creations  of  his  will.  I  am  affected  by  their  magnitude  and  beauty;  but  I  am  lost 
when  I  attempt  to  know  or  comprehend  their  Author.  And  when  I  have  gazed  stead- 
fastly upon  the  monuments  of  his  power,  I  have  wondered  that  I  should  have  attached 
so  much  importance  to  the  diminutive  affairs  in  which  I  have  been  engaged.  When 
alone  in  the  forest,  or  on  the  mountain,  I  am  constantly  indulging  this  tone  of  feeling; 
and  in  the  swelling  of  the  heart  which  it  creates,  I  lose  sight  of  all  care  or  anxiety. 
Both  the  good  and  the  evil  which  encumbered  me  when  I  came  hither,  appear  re- 
moved from  my  heart,  and  every  low,  grovelling  desire  is  subdued.  Whenever  some 
portion  of  the  strength  of  these  creations  is  dissipated,  and  I  look  back  upon  my  past 
life,  or  upon  my  present  situation,  I  view  it  under  the  most  favorable  colors.  I  smooth 
over  the  rough  and  mortifying  occurrences,  and  linger  upon  the  few  happy  hours  I 
•have  spent  in  the  society  of  friends,  with  a  tranquil  and  satisfied  pleasure." 

I  have  spoken  of  Berdan's  unaffected  simplicity  and  humility. 
How  truly,  let  another  extract  show : — 

"  You  speak  eloquently  of  military  burial,  and  your  train  of  thought  is  elevated.  It 
is  different  from  my  own.  I  had  a  prejudice  in  favor  of  a  military  life,  but  my  habits 
and  feelings  have  been  so  opposite,  that  they  have  effected  a  revolution  of  opinion. 
Through  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  ceremony,  I  see  the  march  of  corruption, 
the  emptiness  of  renown.  When,  as  a  simple  citizen,  I  stand  and  view  the  burial  of  a 
soldier,  I  involuntarily  smile  at  the  pageantry  with  which  he  is  committed  to  the  earth. 
I  turn  to  the  quiet  procession,  the  unadorned  pall,  to  the  light  yet  thrilling  sound  of 
the  earth  that  is  thrown  upon  the  coffin,  with  a  finer  feeling.  I  leave  the  grave  of  the 
soldier  with  sensations  that  do  not  accord  with  the  ordinary  tone  of  my  mind,  because 
I  feel  that  I  can  not  suppose  my  burial  may  be  like  his;  but  I  quit  the  spot  where  an 
obscure  and  unknown  individual  has  been  consigned  to  his  native  dust,  with  a  hal- 
lowed feeling,  that  is  exalted  by  the  internal  conviction  of  its  correspondence  with 
what  is  to  be  my  own  fate." 

How  thrilling  is  the  recurrence  of  such  words,  when  death  has 
proved  them  prophetic  !  Much  less  ostentatious  was  his  burial, 
than  even  that  of  an  obscure  and  unknown  individual  in  a  Chris- 
tian land !  There  was  no  "  quiet  procession,"  no  "  unadorned 
pall,"  no  thrilling  sound  of  u  earth  to  earth,  and  dust  to  dust," 
when  his  remains  were  committed  to  the  deep.  No  humility 
could  wish  a  more  unknown  resting-place  than  his  ocean-grave. 

Need  it  be  added  that  he  was  generous  ?  His  charity  knew 
no  prudence,  his  liberality  no  bounds.  I  have  known  him  refrain 
from  the  feast,  to  supply  the  wants  of  the  beggar  that  met  him  at 
the  door;  I  have  known  him  to  suffer  the  privation  of  the  cloak 
with  which  he  covered  the  poor.  It  was  of  course  that  his  gen- 
erosity was  often  abused.  Yet  that  abuse  never  shook  his  credu- 
lity concerning  the  worth  or  wants  of  those  who  applied  to  him 
for  relief.  His  keenest  sorrow  was  that  which  he  experienced, 
when  he  found  poverty  he  could  not  relieve,  or  affliction  he  could 
not  console.  He  was  distinguished  for  a  chivalrous  sense  of  his 
obligations  to  his  friends,  and  those  who  claimed  his  protection. 


DAVID  BE; IDA X.  121 

Inoffensive  and  retiring,  he  never  provoked  an  insult,  but  he  was 
instantly  roused  into  a  generous  indignation  by  wrong  committed 
against  his  friend,  or  injuries  to  the  defenceless.  He  held  that 
true  friendship  was  impossible,  where  either  party  indulged  a 
sense  of  superiority,  of  dependence,  or  of  obligation.  He  seldom 
appealed  to  his  friend  for  sympathy,  and  never  taxed  him  for 
applause ;  and  yet  his  bosom  was  full  of  the  precious  joys  and 
sorrows  of  his  friends.  He  shared  all  their  anticipations,  consoled 
and  sympathized  with  them  in  their  disappointments,  and  exerted 
his  utmost  power  to  relieve  their  misfortunes. 

On  leaving  college,  he  became  a  law-student  in  the  office  of 
John  Anthon,  Esq.,  in  New  York.  It  was  there  our  more  inti- 
mate acquaintance  commenced.  He  read  the  elementary  treatises 
of  the  law  with  diligence  and  attention,  and  the  duties  devolved 
upon  him  as  a  clerk  were  discharged  with  patience  and  fidelity. 
But  the  refinements  and  subtleties  of  the  law  were  not  congenial 
with  his  mind.  His  surviving  parent  having  devoted  him  to  the 
law,  he  struggled  continually  between  his  convictions  of  filial 
;dnty,  and  his  repugnance  to  a  profession  for  which,  as  he  said,  he 
was  not  born,  and  could  not  become  qualified.  His  father's 
death,  which  happened  in  1820,  although  it  deeply  affected  him, 
left  him  at  liberty  to  follow  the  inclinations  of  his  genius,  without 
fear  that  the  consequences  of  the  error  would  fall  on  any  but 
himself.  He  not  unwisely  determined  to  secure  an  acquaintance 
with  the  practical  duties  of  an  attorney,  as  a  contingent  resource, 
and  at  the  same  time  to  prepare  himself  for  literary  pursuits.  A 
letter,  written  in  August,  1822,  so  happily  expresses  his  prefer- 
ence for  those  pursuits,  that  I  can  not  avoid  giving  an  extract 
from  it  in  this  place.     He  says : — 

"  How  would  you  like  to  lead  a  literary  life,  that  is  to  say,  be  in  possession  of  a 
•competency,  and  instead  of  attaching  yourself  to  the  study  of  any  particular  science, 
range  through  the  whole  garden  of  knowledge?  There  would  be  something  manly 
.and  independent  in  this  mode  of  occupation.  It  would  allow  you  perfect  liberty  to 
pursue  the  dictates  of  your  own  taste,  and  would  free  you  from  the  prospective  fear 
of  being  cheated  in  your  professional  progress  by  the  envy  of  cotemporaries,  the 
unaptness  of  your  own  powers,  or  the  frowns  of  fortune.  This  life  might  be  often 
characterized  by  indolence,  but  not  always  by  inutility.  It  is  a  manner  of  passing 
cxistence^which  always  captivated  my  fancy,  from  its  irregularity,  and  from  the  refined 
pleasure  it  seemed  capable  of  affording:.  It  imposes  the  fewest  restraints  upon  our 
inclinations,  and  those  few  can  be  shaken  off  at  pleasure.  There  is  no  prospect  that 
appears  more  dreary  to  me,  than  that  of  spending  the  spring  and  summer  of  my  life  in 
the  acquisition  of  points  of  practice,  and  technical  forms.  I  would  rather  earn  a  sub- 
sistence by  mere  mechanical  occupation,  in  order  that  when  my  allotted  task  should 
be  performed,  I  might  be  at  liberty  to  cultivate  my  taste  without  restraint.  Give  me 
independence  of  action,  and  I  will  not  repine  at  the  humble  garb  it  may  compel  me  to 
wear." 


122  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

In  October,  1822,  he  first  manifested  that  desire  to  visit  Europe, 
which  his  peculiar  studies  were  sure  to  create.  This  desire,  and 
the  preparation  he  made  for  its  accomplishment,  were  communi- 
cated in  a  letter,  from  which  the  following  are  extracts : — 

"I  am  impatient  personally  to  communicate  to  you  a  project  which  I  have  con- 
ceived but  a  few  days  since,  and  which  bids  fair  to  occasion  some  alteration  in  my 
feelings.  It  is  the  intention  I  have  formed  of  visiting  foreign  parts.  Do  not  believe  I 
am  jesting.  I  tell  you  seriously,  that  1  hope,  ere  long,  to  walk  through  part  of  France, 
Switzerland,  Italy,  England,  perhaps  Scotland,  and  withal  to  touch  at  Gibraltar.  The 
plan  is  all  matured.  There  will  be  three  of  us.  We  go  in  the  plainest  dress,  partake 
of  the  plainest  food.  I  now  think  that  I  shall  realize  the  dream  of  my  earlier  years, 
and  indulge  myself  with  a  view  of  those  places  of  which  I  have  read  so  much,  and 
upon  which  I  have  dwelt  so  deeply.  Shall  I  indeed  see  Rome,  the  mistress  of  the 
world?  And  who  knows  but  when  there,  I  shall  see  the  face  of  Lord  Byron?  Think 
seriously  of  going  with  us,  and  that  in  less  than  two  months.  Can  you  imagine  the 
delight  we  shall  receive,  and  the  information  we  shall  obtain  ?" 

In  December  following  he  writes  : — 

"  I  will  tell  you  how  I  am,  and  shall  be,  engaged  during  the  winter.  I  have  begun 
the  study  of  Italian,  and  flatter  myself  that  I  shall  get  a  very  respectable  knowledge 
of  the  language  before  spring.  I  have  commenced  a  course  of  French,  with  a  teacher 
who  spends  the  evenings  with  me,  that  I  may  learn  to  converse  in  that  language, 
which  will  require  considerable  application.  I  am  reading  Cicero  with  a  friend  from 
Bix  to  seven  in  the  evening.  Beside,  I  get  a  weekly  talk  of  elementary  law.  What 
with  these  lessons,  reading  of  course  a  little,  writing  in  the  office,  and  answering  my 
correspondents,  I  find  myself  continually  occupied.  My  French  teacher  has  been  a 
tourist,  and  the  pauses  in  the  lessons  are  filled  up  with  descriptions  of  travel  in  the 
countries  through  which  we  intend  to  visit,  and  occasional  reference  to  the  maps 
which  designate  our  intended  route." 

The  following  letter  made  known  to  his  friends  the  earliest 
indications  of  that  disease  which  was  soon  to  blight  all  the  cher- 
ished hopes  of  life  : — 

"I  am  at  present  enjoying  the  most  delightful  anticipations,  but  I  feel  no  inconsider- 
able alarm,  occasionally,  when  I  think,  from  the  symptoms  I  have  observed,  that  I  am 
in  the  first  stage  of  consumption.  The  idea  of  being  prevented  by  weakness  from 
visiting  the  places  which  I  have  always  regarded  with  a  poetic  feeling,  is  a  painful 
one,  but  it  is  at  least  a  probable  one.  I  shall,  however,  rely  with  confidence  upon  my 
ability  to  perform  the  journey,  and  if  I  have  strength  enough  to  climb  the  vessel's 
side,  I  will  suffer  no  solicitations  to  divert  me  from  my  purpose.  Yesterday  I  crossed 
to  Brooklyn,  and  walked  over  the  ruined  embankments  which  were  thrown  up  dur- 
ing the  last  war.  They  commanded  a  fine  view  of  the  bay  and  city,  and  from  thence 
I  could  trace  our  eventual  route  into  the  Narrows,  until  we  should  be  ushered  into  the 
ocean,  which  bounded  the  prospect.  Tears  filled  my  eyes,  as  I  fancied  that  the  moment 
of  departure  had  arrived.  I  selected  from  among  the  numerous  vessels  below  me,  one 
which  I  thought  would  convey  me  from  America.  Standing  in  idea  on  the  vessel's 
side,  I  asked  myself  with  poignant  regret,  'Shall  I  be  mourned  by  any,  if  I  lay  down 
my  head  in  death  upon  a  foreign  shore?'  Need  I  say  that  your  memory  came  over 
me  like  the  sweet  south,  infusing  a  tranquil  satisfaction  into  my  heart,  and  convincing 
me  that  I  was  not  totally  unworthy  of  affection,  since  I  had  secured  a  friend." 

It  was  not  strange,  perhaps,  that  though  exulting  in  anticipa- 
tions of  his  visit  to  Europe,  and  busily  preparing  for  it,  his 
affection  toward  the  friends  and  associations  endeared  to  him, 
increased  in  strength.  A  letter  written  in  1821,  thus  alludes  to 
his  Alma  Mater : — 


DAVID  BERDAK  12& 

"You  perhaps  do  not  retain  any  portion  of  that  yearning  toward  old  Union  that  I 
do.  Time  does  not  diminish  my  attachment,  nor  does  it  weaken  the  recollection  of  the 
days  I  passed  there.  Often  my  regret  at  the  manner  in  which  I  spent  many  unprofit- 
able hours  there,  are  as  bitter  and  as  keen  as  though  I  had  just  gone  through  the  sad 
experience,  and  had  not  seen  years  roll  away  since  my  departure.  I  look  forward  to 
the  period  when  I  shall  visit  the  old  spo£,  with  lively  interest;  and  I  often  feel  impa- 
tient at  the  delay  I  must  bear,  before  I  shall  be  able  to  go  there.  With  what  feelings 
shall  I  walk  over  every  foot  of  the  green  turf  where  I  used  to  roam !  I  fancy  myself 
hurrying,  with  a  step  which  confesses  my  truancy,  to  the  chapel,  as  the  bell  ceases  to 
send  its  vibrations  between  the  colleges,  or  with  friend  or  book,  straying  up  the  rivu- 
let and  through  the  woods,  behind  the  north  college ;  and,  I  own  it,  a  womanish  feel- 
ing comes  over  me.     And  what  has  produced  this  devotion  to  a  particular  spot? 

'  It  was  not  that  nature  had  shed  o'or  the  scene 
The  purest  of  crystal  and  brightest  of  green ;' 

for  I  am  surrounded  by  greater  beauties  of  nature  here,  and  I  look  with  comparative 
coldness  upon  them : 

'  It  was  not  that  friends,  the  beloved  of  my  bosom,  were  near ;' 

for  I  have  now  truer  friends  than  I  then  had,  and  one  of  them  is  at  my  side;  and  yet  I 
do  not  feel  any  attachment  to  this  spot.  It  was  not  the  view  of  river  and  mountains, 
nor  yet  the  casual  formation  of  friendship,  then,  that  endeared  the  recollection.  It 
was  the  state  of  my  own  heart,  the  bounding  sense  of  being  I  felt,  at  the  transition 
from  restraint  and  confinement,  to  the  glorious  independence  and  enfranchisement  of 
mind ;  the  flow  of  feeling  that  was  quickened  by  recklessness  of  the  future,  and  by  the 
many  vague  and  novel  sensations  which  that  independence  created: — 

'  Life's  little  world  of  bliss  was  newly  born  : 
I  knew  not,  cared  not  it  was  born  to  die.' " 

Berdan  was  admitted  as  an  attorney  of  the  supreme  court,  in 
May,  1825,  and  was  then  ready  to  set  out  upon  his  foreign  tour. 
But  it  seemed  to  him  absurd  to  seek  knowledge  of  foreign  coun- 
tries, without  having  first  made  acquaintance  with  whatever  was 
most  worthy  to  be  known  in  his  native  land.  He  accordingly 
traversed  on  foot  portions  of  the  northern,  middle,  and  southern 
states,  renewing  his  love  of  country  upon  battle-fields,  and  paying 
the  homage  of  grateful  and  enthusiastic  devotion  to  nature, 
among  the  islands  of  Lake  George,  and  on  the  banks  of  the 
Niagara.  I  saw  him  for  the  last  time,  on  this  romantic  excursion. 
We  parted  on  the  shore  of  the  Cayuga  lake.  He  continued  his 
pedestrian  tour  through  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Virginia,  and 
returned  by  the  seacoast  to  New  York. 

Will  it  be  trespassing  upon  the  patience  of  my  audience,  to 
give  them,  as  an  illustration  of  his  talent  at  description,  an  ex- 
tract from  a  letter  written  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  % 

"The  day  after  our  arrival  at  Marietta,  we  all  rode  out  to  visit  Blennerhassett's 
island,  thirteen  miles  down  the  Ohio.  We  stopped  within  a  mile  of  the  island,  and 
then  took  a  canoe  and  paddled  down  to  it.  I  never  saw  a  place  look  half  so  desolate 
as  this  spot  did  when  we  landed ;  and  yet  the  noble  forest-trees  spread  over  it,  har- 
monized with  the  feelings  which  a  recollection  of  Wirt's  flowery  description  had 
inspired.  There  was  an  air  of  savage  wildness  in  the  appearance  of  the  immense 
weeds  which  the  luxuriance  of  the  soil  had  produced.  They  were  as  lofty  as  fruit- 
trees,  and  seemed  as  if  planted  there  to  prevent  strangers  from  intruding  upon  a  spot 


124  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

that  had  once  been  cultivated  by  the  hand  of  taste.  We  had  to  break  them  down  at 
every  step,  and  they  gathered  round  our  feet  like  ropes,  and  prevented  us  from  proceed- 
ing more  than  a  single  step  at  a  time  toward  the  interior  of  the  island.  At  last  we  broke 
through  them,  and  soon  discovered  traces  of  an  old  path,  that  conducted  us  to  a  spot 
where  we  could  discern  traces  of  a  garden,  in  which  peach-trees  were  still  standing, 
although  wild  plum-trees  had  grown  among  them.  We  had  been  told,  at  Marietta, 
that  the  house  had  been  burned  down  many  years  ago,  and  that  very  few  vestiges 
were  to  be  seen  of  its  existence;  but  we  were  not  prepared  to  encounter  such  total 
obliteration  of  all  Blennerhassett's  labors.  A  few  foundation-stones,  and  part  of  a  stone 
etoop,  were  all  we  could  discover.  The  beams  of  the  barn  lay  at  some  distance,  where 
they  appeared  to  have  once  formed  a  rude  fence  around  the  garden,  but  were  now 
scattered  over  the  ground.  The  finest  fruit-trees  I  ever  saw,  were  growing  upon  the 
island.  Many  of  them  were  of  immense  size,  and  their  branches  laden  with  fruit, 
which  the  people  from  the  opposite  shore,  as  we  were  informed,  regularly  appropriate 
to  themselves,  as  soon  as  it  becomes  ripe.  We  rambled  over  as  much  of  the  island 
-as  we  could,  and  on  our  return  to  our  boat,  observing  several  paths  leading  toward  a 
spot  where  a  clump  of  large  willows  stood,  we  directed  our  course  toward  them,  and 
were  fortunate  enough  to  discover  the  ruins  of  a  large  summer-house,  erected  within 
the  enclosure.  The  willows  drooped  over  it,  as  if  to  conceal  its  decay  from  the  passing 
stranger;  and  while  all  were  loud  in  their  admiration  of  the  taste  which  had  reared 
this  bower,  and  screened  it  from  intrusion,  I  was  thinking  of  the  beautiful  Mrs.  Blen- 
nerhassett,  and  imagining  in  what  corner  she  had  there  seated  herself,  when,  with 
select  society,  she  was  happy  in  the  careless  enjoyment  of  tho  passing  hour.  I  fancied 
that  here  Colonel  Burr  had  often  conversed  with  the  happy  pair,  and,  by  the  fascination 
■of  his  talents,  here  at  length  had  fixed  the  wavering  mind  of  Blennerhassett  in  favor  of 
his  visionary  and  daring  schemes.  I  never  saw  a  place  so  capable  of  being  rendered 
an  Eden.  The  walks  that  still  remain,  were  delightful.  They  were  shaded  by  fine 
trees,  and  wound  around  the  island  in  the  most  picturesque  manner.  We  wrote  our 
names  on  a  little  piece  of  plaster,  that  still  remained  on  a  part  of  the  arbor,  and  car- 
ried off  a  small  portion  of  it  as  a  relic." 

The  crowning  of  young  Berdan's  wishes  came  at  last.  He 
embarked  for  Gibraltar  on  the  seventeenth  of  September,  1825. 
He  says,  in  a  letter  written  at  sea : — 

"What  glorious  prospects  we  daily  behold,  and  what  delightful  air  we  breathe! 
It  has  a  most  enervating  effect  upon  us,  however,  for  we  are  almost  incapable  of  even 
studying  or  reading.  The  captain  swears  at  the  calmness  of  the  weather,  and  wishes 
for  a  gale.  But  we  revel  in  the  stillness  of  the  elements,  and  sigh  not  at  the  absence 
of  storms.  We  occasionally  hold  forth  to  each  other  upon  the  necessity  of  brushing  up 
our  Italian,  and  then  we  make  an  attack  upon  the  grammar,  but  the  book  is  soon  laid 
aside,  for  the  view  of  the  passing  clouds,  seeming  to  skim  along  the  horizon,  and  assu- 
ming a  thousand  fantastic  forms  from  the  rays  of  the  sun.  The  graceful  undulations  of 
the  waves,  the  blueness  of  the  water,  its  sparkling  when  agitated  at  night,  the  long 
silvery  line  of  light  which  the  moon  throws  over  it,  the  flapping  sails  of  our  gallant 
vessel,  and  the  consciousness  of  our  solitary  situation,  all  inspire  us  with  new  and 
voluptuous  sensations.  We  experience  also  the  wild  delight  of  children  at  the  arrival 
of  a  long-expected  holiday.  The  period  has  at  length  arrived,  to  which  we  had  so 
Jong  looked  forward ;  and  we  talk  of  our  abode  in  the  city,  as  captives  talk  of  their 
captivity  after  liberation,  with  joy  at  their  escape,  and  with  a  lively  enjoyment  of 
their  present  freedom.  I  do  not  wish  you,  however,  to  believe  that  I  was  in  this  mood 
when  I  shook  hands  with  my  brother,  and  the  few  who  accompanied  us  to  the  vessel. 
In  spite  of  all  my  efforts  to  show  a  composed  countenance,  1  betrayed  heaviness  of 
heart.  It  was  not,  however,  until  all  had  left  us,  and  we  were  under  weigh,  that  I 
yielded  to  the  sadness  that  pressed  upon  my  heart.  Tears,  and  even  sobs,  were  forced 
from  me ;  and  I,  who  had  thought  that  I  should  leave  my  native  land  even  with  exulta- 
tion, was  surprised  into  a  burst  of  sorrow  at  my  departure,  and  found  that  I  looked  back 
upon  it  with  the  yearnings  of  an  exile.  To  you  I  will  not  scruple  to  confess,  that  then, 
for  the  first  time,  strange  misgivings  came  over  me,  and  chilled  my  very  soul.  I  felt 
how  hard  it  was  to  cut  asunder  the  ties  which  bound  me  to  my  native  city,  and  I 
almost  doubted  whether  I  would  not  have  acted  more  wisely,  and  insured  to  myself 


DAVID  BERDAN.  125 

greater  happiness,  by  remaining  at  home,  and  pursuing  the  beaten  track  which  you  and 
all  I  left  behind  me  are  pursuing.  I  then  looked  forward  to  Italy  as  a  land  of  stran- 
gers;  and  my  own  land  looked  fairer  and  brighter,  when  I  thought  of  its  containing 
hearts  that  I  loved,  and  hearts  that  loved  me." 

Berdan  traversed  considerable  portions  of  Spain  and  France, 
not  like  other  tourists,  with  the  speed  of  the  post,  but  rather  after 
the  manner  of  Goldsmith,  conversing  with  the  people  in  their  own 
language,  and  lingering  wherever  monument  or  legend  furnished 
any  tradition  worthy  to  be  recorded.  He  sought  materials  for 
history  or  romance,  as  "  time  or  chance  "  might  afterward  deter- 
mine. I  was  struck  with  surprise  by  finding  in  his  letters  an 
elaborate  history  of  the  late  revolution  in  Spain,  the  materials 
for  which  he  collected  at  Cadiz,  and  which  he  wrote  there  while 
our  distinguished  countryman,  Washington  Irving,  was  collecting 
at  Madrid  the  facts  for  his  life  of  Columbus. 

He  arrived  in  Paris  in  the  fall  of  1826.  A  letter  written  in 
October,  addressed  to  an  American  friend,  then  in  Italy,  com- 
bines impressions  of  passing  scenes  with  endeared  recollections, 
in  a  manner  so  felicitous  and  so  characteristic,  that  I  can  not 
withhold  it. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  Italy,  in  comparison  with  Spain  ?  That  is  the  grand  ques- 
tion I  want  you  to  answer,  as  I  can  determine,  by  that,  my  own  feelings,  were  I  to- 
visit  Italy.  Have  you  experienced  at  Venice,  or  Florence,  or  any  of  the  Italian  cities, 
a  portion  of  the  enchantment  we  felt  on  entering  Gibraltar,  and  more  particularly 
Cadiz?  How  finely  organized  we  then  were  for  outward  impressions?  I  almost 
despair  of  again  feeling  as  we  did  on  entering  those  two  places.  Our  entrance  into 
Seville,  too,  and  the  evening  we  quitted  it  with  the  captain  to  return  to  Cadiz.  What 
delightful  moments!  I  always  connect  the  evening  we  left  Seville,  when  such  a 
heavenly  sunset  marked  our  departure,  with  the  one  we  witnessed  at  Judge  Garrison's. 
How  different  the  scene,  yet  how  exquisite  the  effect  of  both !  At  the  judge's,  a  broad 
river,  high  mountains,  gorgeous  clouds,  that  with  their  expiring  glories  dyed  the  air 
and  waters  in  purple,  the  moon  gradually  assuming  her  quiet  reign,  and  silvering  over 
the  gray  clouds,  no  longer  lighted  up  by  the  last  splendor  of  the  god  of  day,  and 
nothing  but  the  ripple  of  the  tide  on  the  shore,  to  interrupt  the  stillness.  What 
delicious  reveries  we  indulged  in  our  boat  that  evening!  At  Seville,  how  different 
the  scene!  Convents,  and  orange-gardens,  the  strange  boats  of  the  Catalans,  the 
sparkling  eyes  of  the  girls,  leaning  over  the  balustrade  to  look  at  our  vessel:  their 
garb,  the  hum  of  foreign  voices,  the  Guadalquiver,  everything  made  us  realize  our  dis- 
tance from  home;  and  an  atmosphere  impregnated  with  love,  filled  us  with  a  thousand 
voluptuous  sensations.  I  always  think  of  Seville  in  connection  with  Union  and  West 
Point.  I  have  a  portion  of  the  same  affection  for  it  that  I  have  for  those  two  spots. 
You  will  doubtless  see  lovely  scenery  on  your  route,  but  you  will  not  have  time  to  en- 
grave its  beauties  upon  your  recollection.  I  often  regret  that  we  did  not  spend  more 
time  about  Lake  George.  Our  voyage  down  the  lake  was  glorious,  but  I  felt  while 
gazing  upon  the  hills  and  islands,  as  I  have  felt  while  looking  at  the  shifting  pictures 
of  a  panorama:  regret  at  their  changing  so  rapidly,  when  I  wished  to  examine  all  at 
my  leisure." 

His  ardent  desire  to  visit  Italy  is  thus  manifested  in  another 
letter  from  Paris  to  the  same  correspondent : — 

"I  wish  to  heaven  I  could,  by  some  magician's  art,  enclose  myself  in  this  letter  (as 
Asmodeus  did  in  a  vial),  and  resume  at  once  my  shape  and  faculties  when  you  break 


126  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

open  the  seal !     I  would  seize  you  and  W by  the  collar,  before  you  had  time  to 

recover  from  your  astonishment,  and  make  you  both  guide  me  to  all  the  grand  objects 
of  antiquity.  I  think  I  should  be  in  no  great  haste  to  see  St.  Peter's,  as  one  such 
building  as  the  Coliseum  is  worth  a  thousand  of  it.  I  recollect  what  a  thrill  I  experi- 
enced, when  I  believed  the  fine  gate  of  the  Carema  at  Seville  was  a  Roman  one.  The 
belief  that  a  Roman  legion  had  passed  through  it,  perhaps  the  victor's  car  of  triumph, 
heated  my  imagination,  and  I  soon  arrayed  the  eager  crowd  hailing  the  approach  of  the 
triumphal  procession;  the  maidens  distributing  crowns  and  garlands  of  laurel;  the 
majestic  victor  in  his  chariot,  the  captives  in  his  train,  the  martial  music  awaking  the 
■conqueror  to  new  life,  but  increasing  the  dejection  of  the  conquered.  In  short,  'my 
internal  spirit  cut  a  caper,'*  while  I  was  standing  beside  you  and  the  captain,  with 
this  belief  firm  in  my  mind." 

Notwithstanding  the  buoyancy  manifested  in  these  letters, 
Berdan  was  struggling,  during  the  winter  he  remained  in  Paris, 
with  that  insidious  disease  which  seems  to  delight  in  producing 
premature  development  of  the  intellectual  powers,  that  it  may 
signalize  its  slow  but  certain  triumph.  The  returning  spring 
brought,  as  usual,  hopes  of  recovery,  but  they  were  destined  to  a 
sad  disappointment. 

Little  remains  of  my  friend's  history.  The  narrative,  destitute 
of  the  incidents  and  adventures  which  protract  the  stories  of  use- 
ful and  honored  lives,  has  its  end  close  upon  its  beginning.  The 
captain  of  the  Cameo  wrote,  that  on  the  first  of  July,  Berdan  took 
passage  in  his  vessel  for  Boston,  in  exuberant  spirits,  but  with  an 
emaciated  constitution.  He  was  cheerful  and  animated,  until  the 
day  of  his  death,  and  made  a  most  favorable  impression  by  his 
rich  and  varied  conversation,  his  modest  demeanor,  and  the  evi- 
dent frailty  of  his  hold  on  life.  On  the  twentieth  day  of  his 
voyage,  he  was  found  in  his  chair,  expiring  from  an  eifusion  of 
blood.  A  book  which  he  had  been  reading,  had  fallen  from  his 
hand,  and  he  died  undoubtedly  unconscious  of  pain  or  alarm.  A 
lock  of  his  hair  was  preserved  as  a  relic ;  the  crew  were  called 
together,  the  burial  service  was  read,  and  his  remains  wTere  com- 
mitted to  the  deep,  within  two  hours  after  his  death.  He  died 
on  the  twentieth  of  July,  1827,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  years. 

We  feel  less  severely  the  privation  of  the  solar  beams,  when 
the  sun  sets  after  a  long  and  cloudless  day,  than  when  his  rising 
glories  are  obscured  by  storms.  We  see  without  emotion  the 
falling  leaves  of  the  fading  rose,  but  we  refrain  from  plucking  the 
opening  bud.  Death  admonishes  us  most  forcibly,  when  he 
strikes  down  the  young  and  the  gifted. 

Young  gentlemen,  animated,  ambitious,  and  confident ;  you 
who  have  not  yet  been  exposed  to  the  sorrows  and  the  vices  of 

*  Byron. 


DAVID  BERDAN.  127 

society ;  you  have  done  well  to  raise  a  monument  to  one,  over 
whose  chastened  serenity  those  sorrows  cast  no  gloom,  and  upon 
whose  heart  those  vices  left  no  stain.  Let  us  not  forget,  in  dis- 
charging this  last  duty,  that  the  spoils  of  death  will  but  render 
more  glorious  the  triumph  of  our  resurrection. 

The  following  are  the  inscriptions   upon  the  monument  of 
David  Berdan : — 

FIRST   SIDE. 

M.  S. 

DAVIDIS  BERDAN, 

In  Collegio  Concordise 

Ad  gradum  Baeealaurei  in  Artibus, 

Anno  sacro  mdcccxxi, 

Lailis  auspiciis 

Provecti. 

Curriculo  studiorum  confecto, 

Almse  Matris  umbracula 

Discedens  salutavit, 

Et  bonarum  literarum 

Am  ore  in  census, 

Exterasque  regiones  visendi 

Cupidine  inductus, 

Patriae  solum    (longum,  eheu !)  valere  jussit. 

Europam  peragrantem 

Infirma  valetudo  comitata  est; 

In  patriam  redeuns 

Su  pre  mum   diem  obivit; 

Et  nunc,  sub  undis  oceani, 

Procul  ab  amicis, 

Immatura  morte  quieseit. 

SECOND    SIDE. 

Natus   Neo-Eboracopoli  Prid.  Id.  Febr.  mdoocoi. 

Decessit  decimo  tertio  Kal.  Aug. 

MDCCCXXVII, 

^Etatis  sua3  xxiv. 

THIRD    SIDE. 

Juveni  optimo  atque  singularis  exempli, 

Cui  mores  casti  et  suavissimi, 

Cui  judicium  nature 

Peracre, 

animusque  afflictis  aliorum  fortunis 

Semper  ad  misericordiam 

Vocatus, 

Auxiliumque,  qua  potuit,  semper 

Laturus, 

Pudor,  Incorrupta  Fides,  Nudaque  Veritas 

Quando  inveniet 

Parem  ? 

FOURTH    SIDE. 

Socio  dilectissimo, 

Adelphorum 

Societas, 

Amici  et  sodales  literarii, 

H.  M. 

Pouendum  curaverunt. 


128  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 


INTEKNAL  IMPROVEMENTS  AND  EDUCATION  * 

Whether  we  shall  secure  the  advantages  which  are  within  our 
each,  depends  in  no  inconsiderable  degree  upon  ourselves.  To 
io  so,  requires  enlarged  and  liberal  principles  in  the  transaction 
}f  business.  It  requires  that  we  reprobate  the  cent-per-cent 
investment  of  money  in  usurious  loans,  most  frequently  produc- 
tive of  ruin  to  the  borrower,  and  of  perplexity  and  dishonor  to 
the  lender.  Liberal  confidence  must  be  reposed  in  the  abundant 
resources  of  the  country,  and  in  the  advantages  of  our  location. 
That  malicious  and  envious  spirit  must  be  discountenanced, 
which  delights  in  the  destruction  of  individual  credit.  That 
contracted  spirit  must  be  put  down,  which  is  jealous  when  for- 
eign capital  seeks  investment  among  us.  That  bigoted  spirit 
must  be  kept  far  from  us,  which  would  churlishly  exclude  from 
among  us  those  whose  religious  or  political  faith  d'es  not  accord 
with  its  own,  and  which  tolerates  no  diverging  creed,  as  if  the 
narrow  way  that  leads  to  life  was  a  line  of  faith,  and  not  of  prac- 
tice, and  the  seekers  of  that  path  were  amenable  to  human  tribu- 
nals, and  not  to  their  final  Judge ;  and  as  if,  in  a  government 
which  rests  upon  free  discussion  of  every  principle  of  moral, 
social,  or  religious  action,  individual  opinion  must  or  ought  to 
be  subjected  to  arbitrary  and  despotic  intolerance.  Thus  acting, 
the  enterprise  of  our  citizens  will  be  called  into  vigorous  exer- 
cise ;  and  it  is  morally  certain  that  foreign  capital,  if  liberally 
invited,  will  seek  investmenT~iTr~ LhoBjjj^Taces  where  domestic 
capitaTis  most  liBerallv  armprTrfrt^Hy  employee 

It  is,  moreover,  necessary  to  cherish  a  liberat  spirit  in  regard 
to  public  improvements  in  other  parts  of  the  state  ancTbf  the 


*  Oration  at  the  laying  of  t*he  corner-stone  of  the  works  erected  for  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Owasco  river  at  Auburn,  October  14,  1835.  The  address  commences  with 
a  review  of  the  local  interests  of  the  occasion,  which  is  omitted  here. — Ed. 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS  AND  EDUCATION.  129 

cgagto-  And  such  a  spirit  is  no  less  enlightened  and  just  than 
it  is  expedient  for  us  to  indulge  it.  I  regret  to  say,  that  on  this 
subject  there  has  been,  in  my  judgment,  much  error  prevail- 
ing among  us,  and  throughout  the  state.  The  eastern  counties, 
while  the  value  of  their  lands  has  been  enhanced  nearly  two 
fold,  and  their  towns  have  increased  in  nearly  the  same  propor- 
tion, by  means  of  the  great  increase  of  commerce  effected  by 
the  construction  of  the  Erie  canal,  have  not  yet  altogether  sur- 
mounted the  jealousy  with  which  they  regarded  the  prosecution 
of  that  great  work.  Finding  they  are  not,  as  they  at  first  anti- 
cipated they  would  be,  oppressed  with  taxation  to  defray  the 
cost  of  its  construction,  many  of  their  citizens  now  deem  it  just  to 
impose  upon  the  canal  the  expense  of  the  support  of  the  govern- 
ment, at  the  hazard  of  driving  into  other  channels  that  very 
trade  which  makes  it  productive  and  so  excites  their  cupidity. 
The  denial  of  the  applications,  at  the  last  session  of  the  legis- 
lature, for  charters  for  constructing  railroads  from  Utica  to  Syra- 
cuse and  from  Auburn  to  Rochester,  was  a  part  of  the  same 
policy,  and  proceeded  upon  the  ground  that  railroads,  parallel 
to  the  Erie  canal,  would  have  the  effect,  by  diminishing  the  canal' 
tolls,  to  reduce  the  revenue  of  the  state :  as  if  it  were  wise,  or 
magnanimous,  or  just,  for  the  state,  because  it  had  made  thor- 
oughfares, to  refuse  permission  to  its  citizens,  with  their  private 
funds,  to  make  other  thoroughfares  to  compete  with  it  in  accom- 
modating the  public.  So,  also,  a  portion  of  our  citizens  have  op- 
posed the  construction  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad, 
through  the  southern  counties,  under  an  apprehension  that  it 
would  depreciate  property  in  the  northern  counties ;  and  in 
retaliation,  "  the  sequestered  counties,"  as  those  are  called  which 
are  on  the  route  of  the  southern  railroad,  unite  with  the  eastern 
counties  to  prevent  the  improvements  required  by  ourselves. 
Plausible  pretexts  are  never  wanted  to  cover  the  real  odiousness 
of  these  sectional  jealousies  :  and  these  may  generally  be  resolved 
into  a  great  and  anxious  concern  for  the  safety  of  the  state  treas  - 
ury.  Now,  in  my  humble  opinion,  a  state  can  no  more  wisely 
conduct  its  affairs  than  by  contributing  to  the  internal  improve- 
ment of  the  territory  withm  its  limits  a  large  proportion  of  its 
revenues  and  credits.  Every  such  improvement  develops  new 
resources,  adds  to  the  capital  and  commerce  of  the  country,  and 
increases  the  mass  of  taxable  property  on  which  the  government,] 
Yol.  III.— 9 


130  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

in  order  to  secure  full  accountability  to  the  people,  ought  always 
to  rely  for  its  support.  Where  individual  enterprise  and  capital 
are  sufficient  Jbo_accomplish  a  desirabTeJwork,  they  ought  to  be  at 

once  called  Jnto„_exexcise. Where  -they  are  incompetent,  the 

state  ought,  in  justice  and  sound  policy,  to  contribute.  And  yet 
the  very  opposite  of  this  is  the  doctrine  maintained  by  many  of 
our  statesmen,  who  hold  that  the  state  ought  to  embark  only 
in  those  improvements  which  wTill  be  immediately  productive. 
But,  as  such  works  will  be  made  by  citizens  with  private  funds, 
it  follows,  according  to  this  principle,  that  the  state  ought  never 
to  make  any  improvements.  With  such  men,  there  is  an  ever- 
lasting apprehension  of  irredeemable  public  debt  and  eternal  taxa- 
tion. And  yet,  if  all  the  internal  improvements^equirejLto  cross 
this  state  in  every  direction  with  roads,  at  such  mtervals  as  to 
leave  not  a  single  sequestered  county  or  town  within  its.  limits, 
wrere  to  be  made  at  once,  the  debt  which  would  be  created  would 
not  impair  the  public  credit  in  the  least  degree?  or  retard  the 
public  prosperity  a  single  year.  The  expenses  of  a  single  year 
of  war  would  exceed  the  whole  sum  of  such  cost.  Every  year 
after  their  construction  would  show  the  resources  of  the  state 
to  be  so  much  increased,  that  a  nominal  tax  would  be  sufficient 
to  establish  a  sinking  fund,  ample  for  the  redemption  of  the  debt 
within  one  generation — if,  indeed,  it  were  just  that  one  genera- 
tion should  bear  the  entire  expense  of  improvements  destined  to 
become  more  and  more  productive,  wrhile  the  government  should 
endure.  To  compare  such  appropriations  to  the  heavy  expenses 
incurred  by  monarchical  governments  in  desolating  and  extermi- 
nating wars,  is  as  unsound  in  politics,  as  to  assimilate  in  agricul- 
ture the  effects  of  invigorating  rains  to  the  sterility  produced  by 
the  burning  sun.  The  popular  error  on  this  subject  unquestion- 
ably arises  from  an  inability  to  understand  the  extent  of  the 
resources  of  this  great  country.  It  is  forgotten,  that  besides  the 
lands  we  cultivate,  there  is  a  territory  of  almost  inconceivable 
dimensions  lying  on  our  borders,  with  an  annual  increase  of 
strong  and  willing  hands  to  reclaim  and  bring  it  into  a  produc- 
tive condition.  It  is  forgotten  that  every  five  or  six  years  brings 
a  new  state  into  this  confederacy,  with  its  fresh  and  fertile  soil 
yielding  most  luxuriant  gifts,  while  the  older  states  are  all  the 
time  increasing  in  wealth  and  prosperity.  It  is  forgotten  that 
this  is  a  government  made  for  the  reign  of  peace  and  humanity ; 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS  AND  EDUCATION.  131 

that  we  have  no  wars,  nor  rumors  of  wars,  to  render  necessary 
standing  armies  and  navies,  and  thereby  to  exhaust  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  soil.  It  is  forgotten  that  we  have  not,  and  that, 
with  the  favor  of  God,  we  never  will  have,  any  aristocracy,  pen- 
sioners, and  placemen  in  church  or  state,  to  consume  the  sub- 
stance of  the  people.  It  is  forgotten  that  we  are  daily  demon- 
strating, by  our  experience,  the  new  and  gratifying  theory  that 
national  poverty,  as  well  as  indvidual  destitution,  are  not  decreed 
by  a  harsh  and  offended  Deity,  but  happen  through  the  fault  of 
men,  and  are  therefore  avoidable.  All  this  is  forgotten,  and  false 
terrors  of  bankruptcy  are  derived  from  the  history  of  nations, 
whose  wealth  was  in  the  keeping  of  an  inert,  profligate  aristocracy, 
.and  whose  peasantry  were  ground  to  the  earth  with  the  burdens  of 
centuries  of  wars,  carried  on  to  gratify  the  avarice,  ambition,  and 
revenge  of  despots.  It  is  time,  fellow-citizens,  that  we  should 
explode  these  prejudices,  and  should  rise  to  the  sublime  convic- 
tion that  Providence  has  spread  around  us  an  immense  territory 
to  improve,  to  cultivate,  and  to  make  the  abode  of  peace,  of 
science,  and  of  liberty.  When  we  shall  have  embraced  this 
truth,  and  shall  have  become  imbued  with  its  influence,  we  shall 
rejoice  in  every  work  which  will  improve  the  condition  of  any 
portion  of  the  people,  and  which  will  add  to  the  prosperity  of 
any  part  of  the  country. 

I  am  sure,  fellow-citizens,  that  I  should  have  discharged  the 
responsibility  imposed  upon  me,  as  unsatisfactorily  to  the  enlight- 
ened board  by  whose  invitation  I  address  you,  as  it  would  have 
been  unworthily,  were  I  to  close  this  address  without  having 
adverted  to  one  other  consideration  of  a  character  different  from 
any  which  has  been  presented. 

Splendid  as  will  be  the  results  of  the  work  we  this  day  com- 
mence, and  bright  as  are  the  visions  of  national  prosperity  dawning 
upon  us,  it  ought  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  those  results  and  those 
prospects  are  not,  and  ought  not  to  be,  the  chief  end  of  our  exertions. 
While  it  is  true  that  individual  wealth  and  national  prosperity  tend 
to  increase  and  multiply  domestic  enjoyments,  and  elevate  and 
refine  the  social  condition,  it  is  equally  true  that  the  perpetuity  of 
this  Union,  under  its  existing  form  of  government,  is,  and  ought  to 
be,  the  object  of  the  most  persevering  and  watchful  solicitude  on 
the  part  of  every  American  citizen.  And  itjs_ as  certainly  true 
that  neither  the  happiness  of  our  people,  nor  the  stability  of  our 


132  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

government  depends  on  the  length  or  number  of  our  canals^  and 
railroads^  or  the  individual  or  collective  wealth  of  our  citizens. 
On  the  other  hand,  wealth  and  prosperity  have  always  served 
[as  the  guides  which  introduced  vice,  luxury,  and  corruption, 
►into  republics.  And  luxury,  vice,  and  corruption,  have  sub- 
verted every  republic  which  has  preceded  us,  that  had  force 
enough  in  its  uncorrupted  state  to  resist  foreign  invasion.  So 
closely  are  moral  good  and  moral  evil,  political  good  and  politi- 
cal evil,  associated  in  this  world.  But,  in  addition  to  the  other 
eminent  blessings  by  which  we  are  distinguished,  our  lot  has 
been  cast  in  an  age  and  situation  when  we  can  change  this  ten- 
dency of  wealth  and  prosperity,  and  convert  them  into  agents  for 
the  preservation  and  maintenance  of  the  liberty  we  enjoy.  We 
are  under  a  fearful  responsibility  to  posterity  and  to  the  friends 
of  free  government  throughout  the  world,  that  the  institutions 
established  here,  dearer  to  them  than  all  the  wealth  of  the  ancient 
east  and  the  modern  west*  shall  not  be  subverted  through  our 
fault. 

That  responsibility  can  be  discharged^Mthfully^juiicessfully, 
triumphantly,  by  the  ejhicationj of_the_people.  This  great  work 
it  is  practicable  for '  us  to  accomplish :  and  herein  is  that  great 
distinction  of  our  lot  over  that  of  all  preceding  republics,  and  all 
other  states.  The  improvements  in  the  art  of  teaching,  and  in 
the  books  of  instruction,  favor  this  end;  the  cheapness  of  print- 
ing favors  this  end ;  the  interest  every  citizen  feels  that  himself 
and  his  children  have  in  the  government,  favors  this  end ;  and, 
above  all,  the  comparatively  equal  distribution  of  wealth,  and 
the  absolute  equality  of  civil  and  political  rights  existing  among 
us,  enable  us  to  bring  all  within  the  scope  of  a  general  system 
of  education.  There  is  one  only  obstacle  to  the  work — and  that 
is,  the  prevailing  belief  that  it  is  already  accomplished.  Our 
orators,  and  some  of  our  statesmen,  point  boastingly  to  statistics 
which  show  that  almost  every  citizen  can  read  and  write,  and 
thereupon  unhesitatingly  pronounce  us  the  wisest  and  most 
enlightened  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  We  "  lay  this  flat- 
tering unction  to  our  souls,"  and  rest  content.  But  it  is  a  dan- 
gerous, it  is  a  universal — God  grant  it  do  not  prove  a  fatal — ■ 
delusion.  That  the  mass  of  the  American  people  have  been 
instructed  to  read  and  write,  and  that  they  make  profitable  use 
of  those  precious  acquirements,  I  am  as  proud  to  declare  as  any 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS  AND  EDUCATION.  133 

citizen.  But  are  the  acquirements  of  reading  and  writing,  knowl- 
edge ?  No,  fellow-citizens,  they  are  only  the  means  of  acquiring 
it;  and  without  some  higher  cultivation  of  the  mind,  the  ability 
to  read  and  write  may  be  perverted  to  the  perpetuation  of  error, 
as  well  as  applied  to  the  acquisition  of  truth.  It  prepares  us  to 
become  the  sport  of  demagogues,  and  the  slaves  of  popular  pas- 
sion, caprice,  and  excitement.  Something  more  is  wanting.  It 
is  necessary,  if  we  would  be  qualified  to  discharge  the  duties  of  ^ 
electors,  that  we  should  understand  some  of  the  principles  of^  jJ6 
political  economy,  of  the  philosophy  of  the  human  mind,  and,* 
above  all,  of  moral  and  religious  science.  When  the  minds  of ' 
all  the  people  shall  be  thus  instructed,  it  will  be  eminently  and 
practically  true,  that  "  error  of  opinion  may  safely  be  tolerated, 
where  reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it."  Then  it  will  be  true, 
that  "  the  voice  of  the  people  is  the  voice  of  God." 

For  this  purpose,  let  me  earnestly  press  upon  the  attention  of 
my  fellow-citizens  the  importance  of  carrying  into  effect  a  law  of 
the  last  legislature,  providing  for  the  establishment  of  small  libra- 
ries in  connection  with  the  district  schools.  Those  libraries  may 
be  the  germ  from  which,  after  much  cultivation,  the  fruits  I  have 
-described  as  so  important  may  be  gathered :  for,  although  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge  is  the  labor,  or  the  partial  pursuit,  of  a 
whole  life,  yet  the  desire,  without  which  the  acquisition  is  never 
made,  must  be  developed  in  early  years.  Considered  in  this 
view,  it  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  influence  of  these  libraries, 
properly  established,  upon  the  future  character  of  the  people  of 
this  state.  And  let  it  be  always  remembered,  that  to  elevate 
the  standard  of  general  education,  and  to  extend  its  benefits,  is 
the  most  important  duty  of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  Better 
would  it  be  for  our  successors,  that  the  waters  of  the  Erie  and 
Hudson  had  pursued  their  ancient  passages  to  the  ocean,  stran- 
gers to  each  other,  as  they  were  before  the  towering  intellect  of 
Clinton  compelled  them  to  mingle  and  flow  together.  Better 
for  them  would  it  be  that  the  Atlantic  cities  were  a  forest,  and 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  had  remained  an  inhospitable  prairie, 
than  that  we  should  transmit  to  them,  with  the  mighty  improve- 
ments of  this  age,  a  subtle  poison,  which  should  undermine  their 
social  condition.  We  must  make  our  improvements  of  the 
minds  of  the  people  keep  progress  with  those  of  our  territory,  if 
we  would  preserve   those   institutions,  without  which   all   the 


134  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

wealth  and  prosperity  we  can  secure  will  only  invite  more  avari- 
cious and  rigorous  oppression,  will  only  serve,  by  showing  the 
height  of  our  present  elevation,  to  make  more  manifest  the 
deplorable  depth  of  our  fall.' 

Perhaps,  at  some  distant  day,  the  curious  searcher  of  antiqui- 
ties may  find,  in  the  ruins  which,  sooner  or  later,  must  cover  this- 
work  like  all  other  human  inventions,  the  corner-stone  we  are 
now  to  deposite  in  the  earth,  and  studiously  decipher  the  inscrip- 
tion it  bears,  as  a  memorial  of  a  people  whose  career  will  have 
terminated,  and  over  whose  memory  Oblivion  will  have  begun  to 
draw  her  dark  mantle.  Then,  when  all  the  notoriety  given  to  the 
proceedings  of  this  day  by  an  ephemeral  press,  and  the  scarcely 
less  ephemeral  memory  of  these  thousand  witnesses,  shall  have 
passed  away,  we  shall  not  be  judged  by  the  improvements  we 
shall  have  made  in  our  lakes  or  our  rivers,  upon  our  mountains , 
or  in  our  valleys,  nor  yet  by  the  wealth  we  shall  have  accumu- 
lated, or  the  monuments  we  shall  have  reared ;  but  we  shall  be 
judged  by  the  indelible  impression  we  shall  have  left  upon  the 
moral  condition  of  our  country ._  So  far,  my  fellow-citizens,  as 
our  influence  may  go  in  forming  the  character  of  the  age  in 
which  we  live,  let  not  the  discovery  of  these  relics  recall  the 
memory  of  a  people  who  acquired  wealth  without  wisdom,  and 
enjoyed  the  luxury  that  it  brought,  reckless  of  their  responsibility 
to  posterity  and  mankind ;  but  let  it  rather  call  forth  a  tribute- 
of  gratitude  to  our  memories,  the  most  valuable  of  all  posthu- 
mous fame,  as  men  who  employed  the  unparalleled  prosperity 
that  God  had  given  them,  in  enlarging  the  base,  and  adding 
numerous  and  more  splendid  columns  to  the  temple  of  civil  and 
religious  liberty. 

Note. — Among  the  ceremonies  of  the  occasion  was  a  public  dinner,  at  which  Mr* 
Seward  proposed  the  following  sentiment: — 
w     The  Union  of  these  States. — "  It  must  be  preserved."    Our  prosperity  began  and  will 
"*end  with  it.— Ed. 


EDUCATION.  135 

EDUCATION. 


It  is  an  interesting  and  important  inquiry,  how  it  has  occurred 
that  education  alone  has  been  neglected  in  a  country  where  the 
necessity  for  its  improvement  is  so  universally  admitted ;  where 
all  requisite  facilities  for  that  purpose  exist;  and  where  the 
necessaries  and  comforts  of  life  are  so  cheap,  and  its  cares  so 
light,  that  those  facilities  are  accessible  to  all  its  citizens? 

Those  who  have  attempted  to  answer  this  inquiry  have  gen- 
erally found  the  explanation  in  the  cupidity  which  they  attribute?- 
to  the  ximerican  people.     They  allege  that  an  inordinate  passion 
for  the  accumulation  of  wealth  is  our  great  national  vice,  and 
that  this  blights  all  generous  desire  for  intellectual  improvement. 

I  have  no  faith  in  this  solution,  because  I  do  not  believe  in  the 
general  cupidity  it  assumes.  That  all  the  people  of  this  country 
are,  as  they  ought  to  be,  engaged  in  the  acquisition  of  property, 
is  true.  It  results  from  their  peculiar  laws,  which,  forbidding 
long-continued  accumulation,  and  distributing,  after  one  or  two 
generations,  property  that,  under  other  forms  of  government, 
might  be  entailed,  render  it  as  necessary  as  it  is  easy  for  each 
individual  to  secure  a  competence.  It  must  rarely  happen,  under 
our  laws,  that  the  estates  which  can  be  amassed  with  the  great- 
est assiduity  will  be  so  large  as  to  be  productive  of  great  public 
injury ;  while  the  universality  of  the  motive  to  obtain  a  reasona- 
ble competence,  and  the  facility  of  acquiring  it,  exercise  an  influ- 
ence auspicious  rather  than  injurious  to  political  equality,  so 
important  in  a  republic.  Sometimes  indeed  it  may  happen,  as 
has  doubtless  recently  been  the  case,  that  in  a  season  of  derange- 
ment in  the  pecuniary  concerns  of  the  country,  the  desire  for 
accumulation  may  become  too  engrossing.  But  I  think  it  is 
untrue  that  the  passion  is  generally  more  absorbing  among  us 

Nora — A  discourse  delivered  at  Westfield,  Chautauque  county,  N.  Y.,  July  26,  1837. 


136  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

than  in  other  countries.  I  believe  the  rich  in  this  country,  if  any 
may  justly  be  called  so  where  such  effective  restraints  are  imposed 
upon  accumulation,  are  more  liberal  and  public-spirited;  and 
the  poor,  if  such  there  are  where  actual  destitution  is  unknown, 
are  more  honest  than  the  relative  classes  in  other  countries.  The 
patriotism  of  the  people,  however  otherwise  it  may  be  effected, 
is  less  impaired  by  mercenary  motives  than  in  other  countries. 
Religious  and  benevolent  institutions  are  more  effectually  sup- 
ported among  us,  by  voluntary  contributions,  than  they  are  in 
other  countries  by  compulsory  laws.  These  facts  seem  sufficient 
to  refute  the  gross  accusation  of  avarice,  so  universally  brought 
against  us  by  foreigners,  and  too  often  freely  admitted  by  our 
own  citizens.  So  far  as  liberal  endowment  of  our  schools  is  con- 
cerned, ample  provision  has  been  made  in  most  of  the  states,  and 
may  soon  be  expected  to  be  made  throughout  the  Union :  and 
the  neglect  of  education  among  us  is  chiefly  exhibited  in  the 
failure  to  improve  abounding  resources. 

This  failure  seems  to  me  to  proceed  from  an  undue  feeling  of 
contentment  and  self-complacency  that  pervades  the  community. 
In  other  words,  however  frequent  and  universal  are  our  acknowl- 
edgments of  the  necessity  of  improvement,  we  practically  regard 
that  improvement  as  already  accomplished.  We  have  been 
inflated  by  the  sincere  praise  of  the  friends  of  liberty  in  other 
countries,  and  still  more  by  the  adulation  of  demagogues  and 
political  charlatans  at  home.  Thus  we  have  too  readily  yielded 
to  the  belief  that  the  great  experiment  of  self-government,  which 
has  only  been  successfully  commenced  here,  is  in  fact,  and  in  all 
its  parts,  fully  completed.  If  I  do  not  greatly  misapprehend,  we 
are  accustomed  to  felicitate  ourselves  upon  our  superiority  to 
other  nations,  in  regard  not  more  to  liberty  and  our  sources 
of  national  prosperity,  than  to  our  intelligence  and  wisdom; 
and  it  has  long  since  passed  into  an  axiom,  and  become  the  chief 
article  of  our  political  faith  and  practice,  that  the  final  judgment 
of  the  people  is,  upon  every  question  of  right,  responsibility,  or 
expediency,  not  merely  conclusive,  but  infallible. 

Now,  my  fellow-citizens,  it  is  not  in  the  nature  of  man  to 
advance,  when  he  believes  perfection  already  attained.  The 
waste  of  effort  would  be  altogether  unwise,  if  it  were  possible, 
to  add  to  knowledge  already  ample,  and  wisdom  absolutely 
infallible. 


EDUCATION.  137 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  derogate  from  the  intellectual  stand- 
ard of  my  countrymen,  or  to  yield  to  any  nation  superiority 
over  them.  I  should  do  as  much  violence  to  my  own  national 
pride  as  injustice  to  my  country,  in  doing  so.  The  truth  may  be 
fairly  stated  thus :  that  in  the  science  of  government  and  laws, 
and  in  eloquence,  our  statesmen  and  jurists  are  equal  to  any  of 
their  cotemporaries ;  while  in  other  departments,  and  especially 
those  of  pure  science,  and  in  the  varied  literature  of  the  age, 
as  well  as  in  the  fine  arts,  our  scholars  are  inferior  to  those  of 
Europe ;  but  at  the  same  time,  and  what  is  probably  of  far 
greater  political  importance,  education,  to  the  extent  of  reading 
and  writing,  is  more  generally  diffused  among  the  American 
people  than  it  now  is  or  ever  was  in  any  other  country,  Scotland 
and  Prussia  perhaps  excepted.  But,  conceding  all  this  decidedly 
favorable  comparison,  the  question  remains,  are  the  people  of 
this  country  as  highly  educated  as  they  might  and  ought  to  be, 
in  order  to  maintain  and  perpetuate  the  peculiar  government 
-committed  to  their  care  ?  It  is  to  be  remembered  that  we  have 
institutions  not  merely  resembling  those  of  the  liberal  governments 
of  Europe,  in  the  security  of  certain  social  and  individual  rights, 
but  that  all  our  institutions  are  essentially  popular — that  our 
government  is  emphatically  a  democratic  republic.  Our  people 
ought,  therefore,  to  possess  a  measure  of  knowledge,  not  only  as 
great  as  is  enjoyed  by  the  citizens  or  subjects  of  other  states,  but 
at  least  as  much  superior  as  their  power  and  responsibilities  are 
greater.  It  is  not  enough  for  us,  that  our  Washington,  our 
Adamses,  our  Jefferson,  Madison,  Clay,  and  Webster,  may  be 
equal  or  superior  to  Wellington,  Pitt,  Burke,  Canning,  Peel,  or 
Melbourne,  or  the  ministers  of  any  or  all  other  countries. 
Statesmen  in  those  countries,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  gov- 
ern the  people ;  but  here  the  people  overrule  and  control  the 
statesmen.  Measures  which  may  influence  the  administration 
of  public  affairs,  or  effect  a  change  of  national  policy,  are  first 
discussed  among  the  people,  and  may  have  their  first  impulse 
in  a  secluded  town  in  New  England,  or  in  a  hamlet  on  the  shore 
of  the  Mississippi.  In  other  countries,  when  the  people  err,  the 
throne  or  a  conservative  aristocracy  resists  the  popular  delusion, 
and  "trammels  up  its  consequences."  But  here  no  such  bul- 
warks exist.  An  aristocratic  order  or  influence  is  unknown; 
and  the  supreme  executive  of  the  nation  is  scarcely  more  inde- 


138  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

pendent  of  popular  will  or  caprice  than  the  humblest  official  in 
the  public  service.  There,  errors  of  administration  may  occur, 
and  leave  no  greater  evil  than  some  merely  temporary  inconve- 
nience resulting  from  them.  A  succeeding  administration  may 
correct  them ;  and,  as  there  is  a  consolidated  government  and  no 
fixed  constitution,  whatever  changes  take  place,  the  integrity  of 
the  state  continues  and  the  government  remains  the  same.  Inno- 
vation, or  even  usurpation  by  one  department  of  the  government 
of  the  ancient  prerogatives  of  another,  may  be,  and  doubtless 
often  is,  desirable  reform.  But  here  the  case  is  directly  other- 
wise. Ours  is  a  confederation  of  independent  states,  with  a  writ- 
ten constitution,  defining  the  rights  and  responsibilities  of  all  the 
parties,  and  the  respective  powers  of  all  the  departments ;  and 
combining  the  whole  together  in  what  is  confessedly  the  only 
form  consistent  with  the  preservation  of  our  national  existence. 
Here  all  innovation  is  usurpation,  and  all  usurpation  leads, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  revolution  and  anarchy. 

And  now  the  question  is  submitted  to  your  candid  considera- 
tion, are  there  found,  pervading  the  great  constituency  of  this 
government,  the  discipline  of  mind,  and  the  varied  knowledge 
requisite  for  its  support  ?  How  large  a  proportion  of  the  people 
understand,  with  any  degree  of  accuracy,  the  complex,  yet  sim- 
ple machinery,  by  which  they  exercise  in  their  twenty-six  states, 
each  independent  of  all  the  others,  the  necessary  legislation  con- 
cerning their  civil  rights,  privileges,  and  responsibilities ;  and  at 
the  same  time  carry  on,  in  the  general  Congress  of  the  nation, 
and  as  one  great  consolidated  people,  all  their  aifairs  of  war, 
peace,  and  commerce?  How  great  a  portion  understand  the 
distribution  of  power  and  responsibility  between  the  legislative, 
judicial,  fiscal,  and  executive  departments  of  either  the  federal 
government,  or  those  of  the  states  ?  How  large  a  portion  of  them 
are  possessed  of  any  adequate  knowledge  of  the  history,  present 
condition,  or  prospects  of  their  country  ;  the  mutual  obligations, 
and  relative  interests  of  the  states,  or  the  attitude  of  the  country 
in  regard  to  other  nations?  Certainly  it  is  not  requiring  too 
much,  to  say,  that  the  people  should  be  well-informed  in  all  the 
matters  here  enumerated ;  for  it  is  within  the  recollection  of  us 
all  that  they  have  agitated  and  passed  upon  them  in  our  elections. 
But  we  might,  perhaps  with  still  greater  propriety,  ask  how  large 
a  portion  of  the  people   have  enjoyed  the  mental   cultivation 


EDUCATION.  13£ 

which  can  render  the  study  of  these  important  matters  interesting 
to  them,  or  susceptible  of  their  comprehension?  I  fear,  fellow- 
citizens,  that  the  most  confiding  admirer  of  our  national  character 
must  admit  that  in  all  these  respects  most  unsatisfactory  answers 
must  be  returned.  With  some  superficial  observers,  the  intense 
earnestness  with  which  all  classes  of  citizens  engage  in  the  politi- 
cal discussions  of  the  day,  is  sufficient  evidence  of  their  being 
possessed  of  an  adequate  education.  It  is  quite  certain,  that 
apathy  in  regard  to  public  affairs  is  not  a  national  characteristic. 
But  there  might  be  on  the  part  of  all  classes  of  citizens  an  active 
participation  in  public  affairs,  while  the  community  should  pos- 
sess neither  the  intelligence,  nor  the  virtue  requisite  for  safely 
acting  upon  them.  This  remark  is  strikingly  illustrated  in  th& 
French  character,  and  it  did  not  escape  the  vigilant  notice  of 
Tacitus,  in  regard  to  his  own  countrymen.  "  The  people,"  says 
he,  "  always  politicians,  and  fond  of  settling  state  affairs,  gave  a 
loose  rein  to  their  usual  freedom  of  speech.  Few  were  able  to 
think  with  judgment,  and  few  had  the  virtue  to  feel  for  the  public 
good."  To  be  able  to  think  with  judgment,  and  to  possess  the 
virtue  of  feeling  for  the  public  good,  would  seem  to  require 
something  of  the  previous  mental  and  moral  improvement  I  have 
mentioned.  Yet  I  think  we  are  content  generally  with  the  facts, 
that  our  citizens  are  instructed  to  read  and  write  their  native 
language,  and  so  may  obtain,  through  the  public  journals,  all 
requisite  information  concerning  political  affairs.  Assuming 
these  positions,  although  it  is  true  that  far  more  than  half  of  our 
citizens  do  not  habitually  read  any  public  newspaper  of  even 
the  cheapest  or  most  imperfect  kind,  we  are  accustomed  to  main- 
tain that  the  people  must  and  do  in  all  cases,  of  necessity,  decide 
wisely.  Vox  populi,  vox  Dei,  if  it  be  understood  to  assert  no 
more  than  the  right  of  the  majority  of  the  nation  to  control  the 
action  of  the  government,  and  the  duty  of  the  minority  to  ac- 
quiesce, until  they  can  enlighten  and  convince  the  majority,  is  a 
sound  maxim.  But  if  it  be  accepted,  as  I  believe  it  generally  is,. 
in  its  literal  sense,  that  the  approval  of  the  Deity  is  always  in 
harmony  with  the  decision  of  a  numerical  majority  of  the  people, 
it  is  as  absurd  as  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  right  of  kings,  and  is- 
as  dangerous  as  it  is  impious.  Men  in  their  collective  capacity, 
in  masses,  and  in  communities,  as  well  as  in  their  individual 
action,  may,  and  often  do,  err  in  judgment.     All  that  moral  and 


140  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

intellectual  cultivation,  which  is  requisite  to  enable  them  to  dis- 
tinguish truth  from  error,  and  reason  from  prejudice,  in  the  exer- 
cise of  private  judgment,  is  no  less  necessary  in  their  congregated 
-action.  There  is  even  greater  danger  of  error  in  masses,  because 
there  is  greater  scope  for  passion  and  prejudice,  and  there  is  also 
a  diminished  sense  of  responsibility.  There  can,  therefore,  be  no 
security  against  error  in  communities,  other  than  what  protects 
individuals  against  it,  habits  of  virtue  and  cultivated  intellects. 

If  I  am  incorrect  in  regard  to  the  standard  of  education  in  our 
country,  the  means  of  refutation  must  be  everywhere  around  us. 
Elementary  works  and  books  of  varied  science,  not  indeed 
voluminous  and  elaborate,  but  simple  and  cheap,  adapted  to  the 
understanding,  and  within  the  reach  of  all,  must  be  found  every- 
where in  the  land.  Measures  of  public  interest  must  be  every- 
where discussed  with  deliberation  upon  ample  evidence,  and  our 
popular  elections  must  be  conducted  and  determined  upon  prin- 
ciples of  enlightened  patriotism.  Everywhere  the  constitution 
must  be  respected,  and  the  laws  in  full  ascendency.  And  yet  I 
fear,  that  an  unprejudiced  observer  would  not  pronounce  this  a 
true  picture  of  our  condition.  Our  children  and  youth  are 
generally  dismissed  from  the  schools,  after,  some  years  of  misim- 
proved  time,  at  the  very  period  when  their  education  has  only 
been  fairly  commenced.  Popular  works  upon  morals  and  govern- 
ment, geography,  history,  and  natural  science,  which  it  is  the 
chief  achievement  of  the  philanthropy  of  the  age  to  have  adapted 
to  the  use  of  schools,  and  the  capacity  of  youth  of  immature 
years,  have  scarcely  a  circulation  in  the  country.  If  there  be 
any  truth  in  the  language  of  all  parties,  or  that  of  all  calm  obser- 
vers, falsehood  and  error  often  pass  current  for  truth  and  wis- 
dom;  passion,  prejudice,  and  local  interests  are  often  appealed 
to  —  and  not  always  without  success — instead  of  generous  and 
enlightened  motives.  And  our  elections  are,  too  often,  rather 
embittered  personal  conflicts  for  place  and  rewards,  than  the 
deliberate  discussion  of  great  measures,  or  the  discerning  choice 
of  honest,  enlightened,  and  competent  men.  Almost  every  state 
in  this  Union  has  been  within  a  few  years  the  scene  of  frequent 
popular  disorders  and  outrages,  in  which  the  inalienable  rights 
of  citizens  have  been  violated,  the  majesty  of  the  laws  defied,  and 
the  violators  of  the  public  peace  have  been,  nevertheless,  shielded 
by  popular  opinion. 


EDUCATION.  141 

It  is  worthy  of  especial  consideration,  that  these  indications 
are  significant  of  the  tendency  of  the  times ;  and,  lamentable  as 
they  are  in  themselves,  are  of  vastly  greater  importance,  as 
shadows  of  forthcoming  events.  We  may  be  most  sure  that  this 
tendency  of  things  can  not  continue,  and  yet  that  this  glorious 
fabric  of  government  shall  abide  the  period  and  consummate  the 
destiny  anticipated  by  its  founders.  All  the  wisdom  derived 
from  experience  in  the  social  state  would  be  delusion;  all  the 
laws  by  which  Providence  has  decreed  that  nations  may  exist 
would  be  reversed,  if  it  could  happen,  that  a  state,  founded  upon 
the  principles  of  universal  intelligence,  and  virtue  could  be  main- 
tained when  the  people  should  have  become  depraved  and  licen- 
tious. Whenever  that  intelligence,  and  that  virtue  fail,  the 
government  must  give  place  to  one  in  which  the  executive  arm 
will  compel  tranquillity,  or  perhaps  more  probably  will  fall  before 
that  spirit  of  anarchy,  that  already,  ever  and  anon  lifts  its  horrid 
front  among  us,  as  if  impatient  till  its  fearful  hour  shall  come. 
The  transition  need  not,  and  probably  will  not,  be  rapid ;  but  it 
will,  nevertheless,  be  effectual  and  irrecoverable.  And  when  it 
shall  be  complete,  we  may,  although  unconscious  while  it  was 
taking  place,  awake,  like  other  republican  states,  to  the  experi- 
ence of  a  despotic  government  using  only  the  language,  forms 
and  symbols  of  freedom.  It  is  marvellous  how  supine  the  people 
of  a  free  state  may  be,  while  undergoing  this  fearful  change. 
The  curious  traveller  will  yet  notice  with  great  interest  an  humble 
tenement  embowered  in  a  garden  in  Paris,  bearing  the  scarcely 
faded  insignia  of  popular  liberty,  and  consular  authority,  in 
which  Napoleon  lived,  the  idol  of  the  French  people,  during  the 
brief  period  in  which  he  affected  the  ceremonies  of  the  Roman 
republic,  while  every  thought  and  every  act  was  directed  to  the 
establishment  of  an  imperial  residence  in  the  Tuilleries,  and  a 
throne  on  the  ruins  of  the  dynasty  of  St.  Louis.  It  was  suffi- 
ciently consoling  to  the  Roman  people  for  the  loss  of  their  an- 
cient freedom,  when  an  emperor  on  the  occasion  of  adopting  a 
successor,  declared,  "Under  Tiberius,  Caligula,  and  Claudius, 
we  were  the  property  of  one  family.  By  hereditary  right  the 
Roman  world  was  theirs.  The  prince  is  now  elective,  and  the 
freedom  of  choice  is  liberty  1"    The  Roman  people 

"Who  once  would  have  brooked 
The  eternal  devil  to  keep  his  state  in  Rome 
As  easily  as  a  king," 


142  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

were  then  content  with  the  liberty  of  adopting  a  tyrant  nominated 
by  the  reigning  incumbent. 

But  I  may  be  asked  whether  the  standard  of  education  I  have 
supposed  is  not  altogether  impossible  and  visionary.  If  the 
proposition  were  equivalent  to  that  of  the  perfectibility  of  the 
human  mind,  adopted  by  the  philosophers  who  waited  at  the 
altar  when  the  regeneration  of  liberty  occurred  in  France,  I 
should  unhesitatingly  disavow  it.  That  experiment  failed  with 
circumstances  of  such  unheard-of  calamity  and  terror,  as  not 
merely  to  produce  a  renunciation  of  the  extreme  theory  of  the 
philosophers,  but  to  dishearten  for  a  season  the  friends  of  rational 
liberty  throughout  Europe.  Nevertheless,  a  standard  of  popular 
education,  by  which  a  far  greater  proportion  than  a  numerical 
majority  of  the  electors  should,  beside  the  naked  acquirements 
of  reading  and  writing,  be  instructed  in  the  use  and  application 
of  numbers ;  in  the  geography  of  their  own  country,  and  more 
generally  in  that  of  other  countries ;  in  the  important  events  and 
characters  delineated  in  the  history  of  the  American  people ;  in 
the  form  of  their  government  and  its  contrast  with  the  govern- 
ments of  other  states  ;  in  the  general  policy  of  its  laws,  with  such 
studies  of  a  more  peculiarly  scientific  kind  as  would  enable  them 
uto  think  with  judgment,"  in  relation  to  the  occurrences  of  their 
time,  would  seem  to  be  a  very  feasible  addition  to  the  elementary 
education  now  offered  by  our  common  schools  to  every  child 
in  the  state.  All  this  education  at  least  must  have  been  con- 
templated by  the  founders  of  this  government.  Do  you  think 
that  they  regarded  the  scarcely  more  than  mechanical  acquire- 
ments of  reading  and  writing  as  constituting  that  standard  of 
education  which  was  to  sustain  this  exquisitely  organized,  yet 
most  liberal  of  all  governments  ?  No  ;  I  understand  them  rather 
as  requiring  so  great  an  elevation  of  virtue  and  intelligence,  that 
the  people  could  well  comprehend,  and  justly  approve  or  con- 
demn, all  the  measures  of  administration.  And  if  such  an  eleva- 
tion be  not  attainable,  then  is  human  liberty,  for  which  they 
hazarded  their  lives,  fortunes,  and  honor,  a  phantom ;  and  all 
their  wisdom  was  blindness. 

Great  as  the  undertaking  to  establish  such  a  standard  of  educa- 
tion seems  to  be,  it  is  inconsiderable,  compared  with  what  has 
already  been  accomplished.  It  is  only  about  three  hundred 
years  since  a  Bible,  now  so  cheap  as  to  be  found  in  the  hands  of 


EDUCATION.  143 

the  most  humble  of  the  race  for  whom  it  had  then  been  promulgated 
more  than  fifteen  hundred  years,  was  obtained  only  by  the  tedious 
and  laborious  multiplication  of  manuscript  copies,  and  was  sold  at 
a  price  that  rendered  it  a  sealed  book  to  all  but  the  affluent.  Books 
of  the  bewildered  sciences  and  arts,  that  had  then  obtained,  were 
still  more  rare,  and  were  more  valuable  than  a  thousand  times 
their  present  cost.  Even  the  ability  to  read  and  write  was  a 
qualification  so  rare,  that  it  entitled  its  fortunate  possessor  to  be 
the  counsellor  of  kings,  and  to  an  exemption  from  the  capital 
punishment  adjudged  against  felony.  If  at  that  period,  some 
philanthropist  had  predicted,  that  in  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  in  a  country  then  undiscovered,  a  race  would  exist 
among  whom  the  Bible  would  be  found  in  every  family  ;  and  a 
greater  number  of  books  in  a  single  city  than  the  world  then 
contained ;  that  all  the  population  of  a  great  empire  would  be 
able  to  read  and  write  their  native  language ;  that  the  boasted 
mysteries  of  all  science  then  known  to  the  few,  who  pursued 
their  solitary  studies  in  cloisters,  would  be  revealed  to  all  the 
world,  with  ten  thousand  discoveries  never  yet  "  dreamed  of  in 
their  philosophy ;"  would  not  the  prophecy  have  been  thought 
more  visionary  than  my  present  belief,  that  with  the  aid  of 
earnest  and  wisely-directed  effort,  all  the  acquirements  of  aca- 
demical and  collegiate  education  of  this  day,  may,  within  less 
than  half  a  century,  constitute  the  ordinary  proficiency  acquired 
in  our  common  schools  ? 

If,  then,  the  proposed  standard  of  education  be  attainable,  and 
if  it  be  true  that  the  great  reason  why  it  has  not  been  attained, 
is  the  miserable  prejudice  prevalent  among  us,  that  we  are  wise 
enough  already,  what  is  required  to  be  done  is  to  correct  and 
enlighten  public  opinion — the  sole  agent  of  reform  in  this 
country. 

This,  however,  is  not  easy,  for  it  is  not  a  mere  vulgar  prejudice 
that  is  to  be  removed.  The  same  delusive  self-complacency  pre- 
vails, if  not  so  extensively,  yet  lamentably  prevails,  among  the 
most  highly-educated  classes  of  the  community.  Everywhere 
the  student  lays  aside,  most  generally  for  ever,  his  studies  at  the 
moment  when  he  closes  his  connection  with  the  institution  in 
which  he  has  acquired  the  elements  of  education.  Our  physi- 
cians, our  lawyers,  our  divines,  our  politicians,  and  even  our 
instructors  of  youth,  seem  too  often  to  suppose,  when  they  enter 


144  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

upon  the  active  duties  of  their  vocations,  that  they  have  acquired 
all  the  knowledge  requisite  for  their  discharge,  and  forget  that 
they  are,  at  that  moment,  only  qualified  for  the  higher  and  more 
elevated  course  of  study  that  leads  to  success,  distinction,  and 
usefulness.  Let  us  then  remember  for  ourselves,  and  inculcate 
upon  the  people,  that  our  progress  thus  far  has  but  led  us  to  the 
vestibule  of  knowledge.  When  we  see  the  people  content  in  the 
belief  that  they  know  all  that  is  known  or  is  desirable  to  be 
known,  let  us  instruct  them  that  there  is  a  science  that  will  reveal 
to  them  the  hidden  and  perpetual  fires  in  which  are  continually 
carried  on  the  formation  and  modification  of  the  rocks  which 
compose  this  apparently  solid  globe,  and  from  whose  elaborate 
changes  is  derived  the  sustenance  of  all  that  variety  of  vegetable 
life  with  which  it  is  clothed :  that  another  will  disclose  to  them 
the  elements  and  properties  of  those  metals  which  men  combine 
or  shape  with  varied  art  into  the  thousand  implements  and 
machines  by  the  use  of  which  the  forest-world  has  been  con- 
verted into  a  family  of  kindred  nations ;  that  another  solicits 
their  attention,  while  it  will  bring  in  review  before  them,  so  that, 
they  can  examine,  with  greater  care  and  instruction  than  did 
their  great  progenitor  in  the  primitive  garden,  all  the  races  of 
animated  beings,  and  learn  their  organization,  uses,  and  history ; 
that  another  will  classify  and  submit  to  their  delighted  examina- 
tion the  entire  vegetable  kingdom,  making  them  familiar  with 
the  virtues  as  well  as  the  forms  of  every  species,  from  the  cedar 
of  Lebanon  to  the  humble  flower  that  is  crushed  under  their  feet ; 
that  another  will  decompose  and  submit  to  their  examination 
the  water  which  fertilizes  the  earth,  and  the  invisible  air  they 
breathe ;  will  develop  the  sources  and  laws  of  that  heat  which 
seems  to  kindle  all  life  into  existence,  and  that  terrific  lightning 
which  seems  the  especial  messenger  of  Divine  wrath  to  extin- 
guish it.  Let  us  teach  that  the  world  of  matter  in  which  we 
live,  in  all  its  vast  variety  of  form,  is  influential  in  the  produc- 
tion, support,  and  happiness,  of  our  own  life,  and  that  it  is  passing 
strange,  that  with  minds  endowed  with  a  capacity  to  study  that 
influence  and  measurably  direct  it,  we  yield  uninquiringly  to  its 
action,  as  if  it  were  controlled  by  capricious  accident  or  blind 
destiny.  Shall  we  not  excite  some  interest,  when  we  appeal  to 
the  people  to  learn  that  science  which  teaches  the  mechanism  of 
our  own  wonderfully  and  fearfully  fashioned  frames,  and  that 


EDUCATION.  145 

other  science  which  teaches  the  vastly  more  complicated  and 
delicate  structure  of  our  immortal  minds  ?  Who  would  not  fol- 
low with  delight  that  science  which  elevates  our  thoughts  to  the 
heavens,  and  teaches  us  the  magnitude,  forms,  distances,  revolu- 
tions, and  laws  of  the  globes  that  fill  the  concave  space  above 
us  ?  And  who,  with  thoughts  thus  gradually  conducted  through 
the  range  of  the  material  universe,  would  not  receive  with  humil- 
ity, yet  with  delight,  the  teachings  of  that  spirit  of  divine  truth 
which  exalts  us  to  the  study  of  the  character  and  attributes  of 
that  glorious  and  beneficent  Being,  whose  single  volition  called 
it  all  into  existence  ?  Let  us  teach  the  people  all  this,  and  let  us 
show  them  that,  while  we  sit  contentedly  in  comparative  igno- 
rance, the  arts  are  waiting  to  instruct  us  how  to  reduce  the  weary 
labors  of  life ;  philosophy,  how  to  avoid  its  errors  and  misfor- 
tunes ;  and  eloquence,  poetry,  and  music,  how  to  cheer  its  way 
and  refine  our  affections ;  and  that  religion  is  most  efficient  when 
she  combines  and  profits  by  all  these  instructions,  to  conduct  us 
to  happiness  in  a  future  state.  Above  all,  let  us  inculcate  that 
the  great  and  beneficent  Being  who  created  us  and  this  material 
universe,  has  established  between  each  of  us,  and  every  part  of  it 
cognisable  by  our  minds,  relations  more  or  less  intimate ;  that 
he  has  impressed  not  more  on  the  globes  that  roll  through  the 
infinitude  of  space  than  on  the  pebble  that  lies  beneath  our 
feet — not  more  on  the  immovable  continent  than  on  the  rolling 
sea — not  more  on  the  wind  and  lightning  than  on  the  ethereal 
mind  of  man ;  and  not  more  on  the  human  soul  than  on  the 
dimly-lighted  instinct  of  the  glow-worm,  or  of  the  insect  visible 
only  by  microscopic  aid  —  "laws  that  determine  their  organiza- 
tion, their  duration,  time,  place,  circumstance,  and  action ;  that  for 
our  security,  improvement,  and  happiness,  he  has  subjected  these 
laws  to  our  keen  investigation  and  perpetual  discovery ;  and 
that,  vast  as  is  the  range  of  that  discovery,  so  vast,  and  more 
extended  than  we  can  describe,  or  can  yet  be  conceived,  is  knowl-  ' 
edge  ;  and  that  to  attain  all  this  knowledge — is  Education  !" 

Thus  may  we  disabuse  ourselves  of  the  great  national  preju- 
dice that  we  are  wise  enough  already,  by  learning  that  all  we 
have  acquired  is  only  enough  to  teach  us  that  we  know  nothing. 

Of  course  it  is  not  supposed  that  education,  in  this  broad 
extent,  can  be  diffused  so  that  it  can  be  equally  shared  by  all 
the  community.     Nevertheless,  it  is  certain  that,  by  means  of  per- 

Vol.  III.- 10 


146  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

severing  improvement  in  the  system  of  instruction,  the  stand- 
ard of  knowledge  that  has  obtained  among  us  may  be  continually 
elevated.  What  renders  a  study  of  the  sciences  and  the  arts  so 
conducive  to  the  advancement  of  the  human  mind,  is,  that  no 
one  of  the  entire  circle  is  or  can,  in  the  nature  of  tilings,  be  per- 
fected. The  acquisition  of  what  has  already  been  discovered  is 
sufficient  employment,  and  affords  abundant  satisfaction  to  the 
mass  of  mankind,  while  the  curiosity  of  the  more  gifted  few,  and 
the  honors  and  rewards  which  await  them,  will  always  insure 
the  progress  of  invention,  just  in  proportion  as  discoveries  already 
made  shall  become  common. 

Let  us  imagine  this  whole  people  educated  to  the  extent  that 
I  have  supposed  practicable;  and  then  can  we  conceive  the 
immense  and  glorious  change  which  would  have  come  upon  the 
condition  of  our  country !  Then  indeed  would  our  public  coun- 
cils be  worthy  the  dignity  of  a  race  that  had  asserted  and  main- 
tained their  capability  of  self-government ;  vice  and  crime  would 
no  longer  obtrude  themselves  everywhere  among  us;  mutual 
truth,  justice,  and  forbearance  in  society,  would,  more  than  hu- 
man laws  can  do,  protect  us  all  in  our  personal  rights ;  enlarged 
views  of  public  policy  and  disinterested  patriotism  would  engage 
us  all  in  continued  national  improvement,  and  faction  would  be 
banished  from  all  our  borders. 

I  have  enlarged  upon  the  extent  of  the  field  of  education, 
because  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  one  of  the  chief  obstacles  to  its 
cultivation  is  the  contractedness  of  vision  on  the  part  of  those 
engaged  in  it.  It  is  obvious  that  there  must  always  be  various 
grades  of  education,  and  corresponding  grades  in  the  institutions 
in  which  it  is  to  be  attained  ;  and  that  all  these  will  flourish  only 
when  all  shall  be  duly  maintained.  They  must  and  will  have  a 
reciprocal  influence  upon  each  other.  If  the  standard  of  our 
professional  education  be  advanced,  that  which  obtains  in  our 
colleges  must  be  elevated  also,  and  in  proportion  as  that  of  our 
colleges  shall  rise,  that  of  our  academies  will  follow  ;  and  as  that 
of  our  academies  ascends,  that  of  our  common  schools  must 
attain  a  higher  rank.  Most  of  these  institutions  seem  to  contain 
no  principle  of  self-government,  and  this  results  from  the  univer- 
sal lethargy  of  the  people  in  regard  to  them.  Precisely,  or 
nearly  so,  the  same  standard  of  education,  the  same  qualifica- 
tions for  instructors,  and  the  same  routine  of  studies  for  pupils. 


EDUCATION.  147 

and  the  same  limited  results  are  found  respectively  in  them  all ; 
and  these,  with  very  slight  improvements,  are  the  same  that  pre- 
vailed thirty  years  ago.  Notwithstanding  the  general  belief  that 
our  common  schools  exclusively  deserve  our  care,  I  believe  it  a 
measure  quite  as  indispensable  and  of  as  great  efficiency,  to 
elevate  the  standard  of  our  colleges  and  academies,  and  to 
increase  the  number  of  students  received  in  them.  It  is  in  these 
institutions  that  the  instructors  and  patrons  of  the  schools  of  an 
inferior  grade  must  be  educated.  It  is  to  the  efforts  of  such 
patrons  and  instructors  that  the  common-school  system  is  chiefly 
indebted,  and  its  present  inefficiency  is  to  be  attributed  to  their 
limited  influence.  Let  us  beware  how  we  yield  too  much  on  this 
point,  under  the  influence  of  our  righteous  national  prejudice 
against  everything  that  might  contribute  toward  the  production 
of  an  aristocratic  order  or  influence.  The  aristocracy  with  which 
the  world  has  been  scourged  was  never  one  that  was  produced 
by  science  and  learning.  That  education  increases  the  power  of 
those  who  enjoy  its  advantages  is  true ;  and  in  this  best  sense  is 
education  aristocratic.  In  this  sense,  science  and  learning  always 
will  create  an  aristocracy  in  every  country  where  they  are  cher- 
ished. Not  an  aristocracy  of  birth,  for  it  is  education  that  has 
exploded  among  us  the  prejudice  in  favor  of  birth.  To  it  we 
owe  our  exemption  from  the  error  prevalent  all  over  the  rest  of 
the  world,  that  no  man  is  so  fit,  or  so  well  entitled,  to  be  a  king 
as  he  who  is  the  son  of  a  king ;  none  so  brave  as  he  whose  father 
was  a  warrior;  none  so  well  entitled  to  the  enjoyment  of  wealth 
as  he  whose  ancestors  were  rich.  Nor  is  the  aristocracy  pro- 
duced by  education  that  of  wealth ;  for  knowledge  pays  no 
respect  to  mere  wealth :  it  humbles  all  pretensions  except  those 
of  virtue  and  intellect.  But  the  aristocracy  produced  by  educa- 
tion is  the  increased  power  and  influence  of  the  most  enlightened, 
and  therefore  the  most  useful,  members  of  society.  However 
repugnant  we  may  be  to  admit  the  truth,  and  however  glaring 
may  be  the  exceptions  to  it,  it  is  nevertheless  a  sound  general 
principle  that  knowledge  is  power.  Whatever  there  is  in  our  lot 
that  distinguishes  us  from  the  disfranchised  peasantry  of  conti- 
nental Europe,  or  the  turbaned  followers  of  the  prophet,  or  the 
mutually-warring  Africans  in  their  native  deserts,  or  their  abject 
offspring  here,  or  the  aborigines  of  our  forests,  all  is  knowledge 
obtained  by  education ;  and,  compared  with  all  those  classes  of 


148  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

our  common  race,  we  are  aristocratic.  We  exercise  greater 
power,  because  we  are  wiser,  and  therefore  better,  than  they. 
In  every  stage  of  society  this  tendency  of  education  has  been 
observed.  He  who  first  learned  the  malleable  property  of  iron, 
and  first  shaped  the  axe  and  the  ploughshare,  became  an  aristo- 
crat. He  who  first  attenuated  and  wove  the  fleece,  he  who  first 
smoothed  and  rendered  pliable  the  skins  of  beasts,  he  who  first 
erected  the  rude  huts  for  his  tribe  —  all  these,  all  classes  of  me- 
chanics, have  in  their  day  been,  and  all  who  exercise  their  cal- 
lings will  be,  aristocrats.  They  all  exercise  an  influence,  great 
in  proportion  to  their  knowledge.  It  is  inevitable,  because  it  is 
in  the  wisdom  of  Providence  that  the  world  shall  be  governed 
by  ascendant  minds.  Our  own  observation  shows  us  daily  that 
knowledge  gives  the  capacity  for  usefulness ;  and  he  who  is,  or 
is  esteemed,  useful,  is  by  consent  invested  with  power.  In  agri- 
culture, he  who  adds  science  to  labor  is  an  aristocrat,  compared 
with  the  drudge  who  performs  an  allotted  task.  He  who  in  the 
mechanic  arts  adds  skill  to  patient  industry,  rises  instantly  above 
the  uninstructed  artisan ;  and  he  who  to  industry  and  skill  adds 
taste,  is  far  above  the  competition  of  the  dull  and  plodding  work- 
man. If,  at  this  day,  wealth  sometimes  usurps  the  place  of 
intellect  and  appropriates  its  honors,  it  is  only  because  public 
sentiment  is  perverted,  and  requires  to  be  corrected  by  a  higher 
standard  of  education.  But,  although  education  increases  the 
power  and  influence  of  its  votaries,  it  has  no  tendency  like 
other  means  of  power  to  confine  its  advantages  to  a  small  num- 
ber :  on  the  contrary,  it  is  expansive  and  thus  tends  to  produce 
equality,  not  by  levelling  all  to  the  condition  of  the  base,  but  by 
elevating  all  to  the  association  of  the  wise  and  good.  If,  then, 
we  would  advance  popular  education,  if  we  would  secure  the 
success  of  our  common-schools,  and  extend  their  advantages  to 
the  whole  people,  we  must  remember  that  education  is  a  catholic 
cause,  and  must  banish  all  prejudices  that  retard  improvement 
in  any  direction. 

There  remains  to  be  noticed  an  error  scarcely  less  extensive, 
or  less  pernicious,  than  any  I  have  mentioned.  It  is  that  which 
limits  to  a  comparatively  lower  standard  the  education  of  the 
female  sex.  We  may  justly  boast  in  this  country  a  higher  and 
more  deferential  regard — a  more  chivalrous  devotion  to  the  sex 
than  is  exhibited  by  any  other  nation.     I  myself  have  compared 


EDUCATION.  149 

our  sentiments  and  customs,  in  this  respect,  with  those  of  western 
Europe.  I  have  seen,  indeed,  in  some  other  countries,  the 
more  ardent  and  impassioned  devotion  that  marks  the  clime 
where  licentiousness  assumes  the  name  of  love,  but  is  not  imbued 
with  any  of  its  sentiment,  nor  elevated  by  any  of  its  purity.  I 
have  seen,  .under  colder  skies,  more  humble  homage  paid  to 
individuals,  because  they  were  distinguished  by  learning,  accom 
plishments,  birth,  wealth,  or  beauty.  But  it  is  in  this  land  only 
that  respect  and  tenderness  are  yielded  to  women  because  they 
are  women.  If  the  vehement  imagination  of  other  countries  is 
here  subdued,  and  passion  is  modified,  the  romance  and  poetry  of 
other  lands  are  here  converted  into  a  real  and  living  sentiment. 
There  is  no  other  country  where  the  humblest  female  receives, 
from  the  highest  in  rank  of  the  other  sex,  the  surrender  of  the 
chief  place  in  public  assemblies,  not  more  than  in  the  social  circle 
— in  accidental  meetings  by  the  way,  not  less  than  in  the  cere- 
monials of  fashionable  life.  In  Italy,  often  described  as  the  land 
where  beauty  wields  a  despotic  sway,  I  have  seen  women  rol- 
ling huge  stones  from  the  mountain-roads.  In  France,  the  land 
of  gallantry,  and  politeness,  I  have  seen  them  performing  the 
labor  of  porters :  in  refined  England,  the  task  of  scavengers  of 
the  streets.  And  in  all  those  countries,  I  have  seen  them  em- 
ployed in  field  labor,  with  countenances  hardened  by  exposure 
to  all  vicissitudes  of  weather,  and  hands  familiar  with  the  spade 
and  the  plough.  It  reflects  great  honor  upon  our  national  char- 
acter that  such  degradation  of  the  sex  is  never  exhibited  here. 
But  there  yet  remains  a  duty  toward  women  to  be  learned  by  us 
all ;  and  that  is,  to  make  their  education  equal  always  to  that  of 
the  other  sex.  He,  it  seems  to  me,  is  a  dull  observer,  who  is  not 
convinced  that  they  are  equally  qualified  with  the  other  sex,  for 
the  study  of  the  magnificent  creation  around  us,  and  equally 
■entitled  to  the  happiness  to  be  derived  from  its  pursuit:  and 
still  more  blind  is  he,  who  has  not  learned  that  it  was  the 
intention  of  the  Creator  to  commit  to  them  a  higher  and  greater 
portion  of  responsibility  in  the  education  of  the  youth  of  both 
sexes.  They  are  the  natural  guardians  of  the  young.  Their 
abstraction  from  the  engrossing  cares  of  life,  affords  them  leisure 
both  to  acquire  and  communicate  knowledge.  From  them  the 
young  more  willingly  receive  it,  because  the  severity  of  discipline 
is  relieved  with   greater  tenderness  and   affection,  while  their 


150  OKATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

quicker  apprehension,  enduring  patience,  expansive  benevolence,, 
higher  purity,  more  delicate  taste  and  elevated  moral  feeling, 
qualify  them  for  excellence  in  all  departments  of  learning,  except 
perhaps  the  exact  sciences.  If  this  be  true,  how  many  a  repul- 
sive, bigoted,  and  indolent  professor  will,  in  the  general  improve- 
ment of  education,  be  compelled  to  resign  his  claim  to  modest, 
assiduous  and  affectionate  woman  ?  And  how  many  conceited 
pretenders  who  now  wield  the  rod  in  our  common  schools,  with- 
out the  knowledge  of  human  nature  requisite  for  its  discreet 
exercise  —  too  indolent  to  improve,  and  too  proud  to  discharge 
their  responsible  duties,  will  be  driven  to  seek  subsistence  else- 
where ?  It  is  not,  as  is  generally  supposed,  the  female  sex  alone 
who  suffer  by  this  exclusion  from  their  proper  sphere.  Whatever 
is  lost  to  the  other  sex,  of  the  advantages  of  their  nurture  and 
cultivation,  is  an  additional  loss  to  our  common  race. 

Fellow-citizens,  it  is  less  the  object  of  this  discourse  to  give 
practical  suggestions  for  the  reform  of  education,  than  it  is  to 
excite  an  interest  in  its  behalf;  yet  I  will  add,  in  order  that  it 
may  not  appear  altogether  without  practical  tendency,  that  if  we 
would  communicate  an  effective  impulse  to  the  cause,  we  are  not 
to  wait  the  action  of  the  government.  Our  government  acts 
only  in  obedience  to  popular  influence,  and  in  pursuance  of  pop- 
ular direction.  It  is  not  in  its  principles  to  anticipate  the  one,  or 
resist  the  other.  Like  all  other  reforms,  this  must  be  effected  by 
a  combination  of  individual  efforts,  to  stimulate  and  enlighten 
the  public  mind.  In  the  present  case  public  feeling  is  not  to  be 
reached  from  a  distant  point.  A  more  practicable  course  is 
offered.  We  must  begin  at  home,  with  the  schools  around  us, 
and  among  that  portion  of  the  community  in  which  we  reside. 
Let  us  revive  the  system  of  visitation  and  examination  of  our 
academies  and  schools.  This  all-important  feature  in  every  plan 
of  public  instruction  has,  during  a  long  period,  fallen  into  desue- 
tude. The  officers  invested  with  the  responsibility  of  discharging- 
the  duty,  unfortunately,  are  selected  as  the  favorites  of  some 
political  party,  and  do  not  even  make  a  nominal  visitation  of  the 
institutions  subject  to  their  examination.  The  right  of  visitation, 
however,  is  not  divested  from  parents  and  patrons  of  these- 
schools.  If,  in  addition  to  the  examinations  heretofore  practised, 
there  could  be  adopted  some  plan  in  pursuance  of  which,  institu- 
tions of  equal  rank  situated  in  the  same  vicinity  could  be  brought 


EDUCATION.  151 

into  comparative  examination,  competition  would  at  once  be 
produced  between  instructors,  and  emulation  among  pupils ; 
increased  interest  would  be  excited  on  the  part  of  parents,  and  a 
lively  concern  in  the  whole  community. 

I  appeal  to  all  patriots  and  Christians  to  consider  the  subject 
upon  which  I  have  pre-ented  these  hasty  remarks,  and  adopt 
such  measures  as  shall  be  found  expedient  to  discharge  the 
responsibility  they  owe  to  their  children,  to  the  church  of  onr 
Savior,  to  our  common  country,  and  to  the  great  family  of  man- 
kind. Although  we  are  situated  in  a  remote  angle  of  this  great 
and  leading  state,  our  position  is  not  altogether  obscure,  nor  will 
our  influence  be  altogether  unavailing.  We  are  sure  of  sym- 
pathy and  co-operation,  for  there  is  everywhere  to  be  found  solici- 
tude concerning  this  important  matter,  capable  of  being  kindled 
into  intense  interest,  and  auspicious  of  distinguished  success.  If 
to  misemployed  time  and  abused  privileges  of  our  own,  we  add 
the  k'deep  damnation"  of  neglecting  our  children's  moral  and 
intellectual  cultivation,  the  calamity  will  be  immeasurable.  But 
if  by  the  same  fatal  error  we  suffer  this  glorious  fabric  of  govern- 
ment, consecrated  to  liberty,  to  be  abandoned  by  that  blessed 
protectress,  because  we  leave  to  expire  the  flame  that  ought  to 
burn  perpetually  on  her  altars,  there  will  then  be  no  hope  for  our 
country  for  evermore.  And  if,  after  having  undertaken  the 
guidance  of  the  human  mind  in  this  renovated  age,  we  suffer  our 
light  to  become  extinguished,  the  misfortune  for  our  whole  race 
will  be  irretrievable,  until  God  in  his  mercy  shall  raise  up,  in 
another  age,  and  perhaps  on  another  continent,  a  people  worthy 
of  the  high  responsibility. 

To  the  pupils  of  this  institution  I  address,  as  may  be  expected, 
a  word  of  advice,  with  all  the  sympathy  that  a  recollection  of 
early  studies,  and  regret  of  later  privation  of  them,  inspire. 
They  will  find,  as  they  advance  in  life,  that  the  pursuit  of  educa- 
tion, sure  as  it  is,  when  perseveringly  followed,  to  lead  to  useful- 
ness, honor,  and  happiness,  is  continually  open  to  seduction.  In 
early  life  the  graces  of  personal  beauty,  and  the  vigor  of  youth, 
will  seem  to  say,  "  Put  your  confidence  in  us ;  we  will  conduct 
you  to  true  happiness."  Associations  of  friendship,  and  affection, 
natural  and  eminently  desirable,  and  capable  of  being  rendered 
holier  and  more  endearing  by  mental  and  moral  cultivation,  yet 
erroneously  formed  or  pursued,  will  divert  them  from  the  way  that 


152  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

leads  to  high  attainment.  Ambition  for  power,  and  the  lust  of 
wealth,  will  struggle  hard  for  the  mastery  of  their  young  hearts, 
when  they  shall  have  entered  upon  the  stage  of  active  life,  and 
partial  or  temporary  success  will  excite  unreasonable  and  buoy- 
ant hopes,  to  give  place  too  soon  to  disgust  and  despair.  Let 
them  remember,  when  these  seductive  agencies  assail  them,  that 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge  must  be  persevering;  and  let  them 
always  remember  that  it  must  be  persevering  not  merely  while 
they  remain  pupils  of  this  preparatory*institution,  or  until  they 
shall  receive  the  parting  benediction  of  Alma  Mater,  or  shall 
have  closed  the  probation  of  professional  studies,  but  all  their 
lives  long.  They  only  are  secure  against  disappointment  in  the 
expectation  of  the  adventitious  advantages  of  education,  whose 
motives  are  elevated  above  them,  and  who  seek  knowledge  never 
for  the  honor  or  power  that  it  is  almost  sure  to  bring,  but  for  its 
own  sake,  and  for  the  ability  to  be  useful  which  it  creates.  The 
graces  and  vigor  of  youth  do  not  fail  and  fade  more  rapidly  than 
the  mind  ceases  to  derive  pleasure  from  their  possession,  and  the 
enjoyments  they  offer.  All  associations  of  friendship  and  love 
are  sources  of  happiness  only  when  they  aid  in  elevating  the  mind 
and  affections.  Ambition  for  power  and  excellence  becomes  a 
consuming  disease,  when  it  transcends  the  limits  assigned  it,  as 
an  incentive  to  self-improvement.  Wealth  is  a  pageant  that  can 
never  elevate  an  ignoble,  or  satisfy  a  generous  mind,  while  pov- 
erty and  misfortune  can  never  debase  a  cultivated  intellect.  We 
must  seek  higher  motives  than  all  these,  and  to  that  end  let  us 
remember,  that  the  beneficent  Creator  has  given  us  all  a  moral 
sense  to  be  enlightened  and  elevated ;  intellectual  powers  to  be 
continually  exercised  and  invigorated ;  social  .affections  to  be 
developed  and  refined ;  and  religious  aspirations  to  be  cherished 
and  purified :  that  all  these  faculties  and  affections  are  given  to 
enable  us  to  secure  our  own  happiness,  and  promote  that  of 
others.  And  that  he  who  shall  most  assiduously  and  persever- 
ingly  improve  them  in  humble  dependence  upon  the  Divine 
protection  and  guidance  ;  and  with  motives  of  the  most  extensive 
benevolence,  will  be  most  successful,  most  honored,  most  beloved, 
and  most  happy  in  this  life ;  and  when  its  sands  shall  be  spent, 
will  be  best  prepared  to  appear  in  the  presence  of  the  great 
Author  of  them  all,  and  await  there  his  gracious  behest  for  the  life 
that  commences  beyond  the  bounds  of  mortal  vision  and  activity. 


IRELAND  AND  IRISHMEN.  153 


IRELAND   AND   IRISHMEN. 

Fellow-Citizens  :  As  well  you  who  justly  rejoice  in  the  birth- 
right of  freedom  as  you  to  whom  that  felicity  was  denied  —  vol- 
untary members  of  the  state  —  immigrants  from  the  banks  of  the 
Liffey  and  of  the  Shannon,  of  the  Mersey,  and  of  the  Thames  ;  from 
the  shores  of  Lomond,  and  of  Forth  ;  from  the  valley  of  the  Seine, 
and  from  the  meandering  pathway  of  the  Rhine — from  the  plains 
of  Italy,  and  from  the  declivities  of  Jura  —  of  various  lineage, 
education,  and  religion,  but  all  of  one  baptism  of  American  citi- 
zenship, and  bound  with  your  posterity,  in  the  destinies  of  the 
American  republic  —  we  have  devoted  this  day  to  the  relief,  the 
enfranchisement,  and  the  restoration  of  Ireland. 

And  what  have  American  citizens  to  do  with  the  political  con- 
dition of  Ireland?  The  question  involves  not  the  action  of  the 
government  of  our  country,  but  that  of  the  people  only.  Pru- 
dence may  restrain  the  action  of  the  public  authorities  on  sub- 
jects lawfully  demanding  popular  consideration.  Congress  can 
pass  no  laws  concerning  establishments  of  religion;  but  who, 
therefore,  insists  that  the  people  shall  not  maintain  institutions  of 
religious  instruction  and  worship  ? 

What,  then,  have  American  citizens  to  do  with  the  revolution 
in  Ireland? 

We  are  freemen.  What  is  our  freedom — the  freedom  that 
•distinguishes  this  from  every  other  land  under  the  sun?  It  is 
the  freedom  of  a  state  organized  by  (not  the  subjection,  but) 
the  voluntary  association  of  the  people,  in  a  compact  devised  and 
defined  by  themselves  —  continuing  by  their  ever-renewed  assent, 
and  perpetual  co-operation  —  ruling  without  power,  yet  unre- 
sisted and  irresistible  —  undisturbed  by  anarchy,  yet  completely 

Note. — This  address  was  delivered  at  Albany,  January  3,  1844,  on  the  occasion  of 
Mr.  Seward's  taking  the  chair  at  the  simultaneous  repeal  meeting  held  in  that  city. — Ed. 


154  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

obeying  the  will  of  the  governed.  This  is  freedom,  which  has 
not  been  enjoyed  in  any  other  period  than  now,  nor  elsewhere 
than  here.  It  is  freedom  which  none  but  an  American  mind,  a 
mind  American  by  education,  or  by  conviction,  can  justly  con- 
ceive. 

It  is  essential,  in  this  freedom,  that  all  mankind,  in  whatever 
clime,  country,  or  social  condition,  have  equal  natural  rights, 
including  the  right  to  establish,  subvert,  and  modify,  their  forms 
of  government,  for  their  own  security  and  happiness.  Give  me 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.     It  reads  thus  : — 

"We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident:  that  all  men  are  created  equal;  that  they 
are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  inalienable  rights;  that  among  these  rights  are 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  ;  that  to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are- 
instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed." 

See  here  how  the  principle  of  absolute  and  equal  natural  rights 
breaks  forth  in  almost  the  first  sentence  of  the  immortal  apology 
for  American  liberty !  The  founders  of  the  republic  did  not  stop 
to  demonstrate,  but  assumed  their  rights  as  self-evident.  They 
claimed  those  rights,  not  as  Americans,  not  as  Britons,  but 
as  men.  They  derived  them  not  from  royal  concession,  nor  from 
the  British  constitution,  but  from  the  Creator  of  mankind. 

The  people  of  Ireland  —  the  men,  women,  and  children  of  that 
island  —  an  island  more  spacious  than  some  of  our  own  states, 
and  even  than  some  of  the  most  ancient  kingdoms  in  Europe  — 
that  island,  the  greenest  in  all  the  seas,  teeming  with  human  life,, 
prolific  of  the  elements  of  its  support,  and  denying  life  to  what- 
ever is  noxious  —  are  not  this  people  a  nation  with  all  the  com- 
prehensive individuality  that  makes  a  community?  And  are 
they  not  of  the  same  race,  endowed  wTith  the  same  inalienable 
rights  by  the  same  beneficent  Creator  ?  Their  cause  then  is  as- 
sacred,  and  as  dear  to  humanity  —  as  precious  in  the  sight  of  God,, 
and  of  man  —  as  our  own  ;  for  it  is  the  same  common  cause  of  all 
mankind. 

It  is  also  essential,  in  the  very  idea  of  American  freedom,  that 
the  moral  sentiments  of  mankind  are  paramount  to  the  govern- 
ments of  states,  and  may  rightfully  be  expressed  to  influence  and 
regulate  their  action.  All  governments  which  have  consistency 
enough  to  endure,  have  a  tendency  to  increase  their  power,  and 
oppress  their  subjects.  Every  government  unequally  constituted 
has  a  tendency  to  oppress  dependent  and  defenceless  portions  of 
the  state.     When  a  nation  or  a  province  is  oppressed  by  means 


IRELAND  AND  IRISHMEN.  155- 

of  the  powers  granted  for  its  preservation,  how  can  it  peacefully 
obtain  relief?  The  sympathies  of  the  world  are  conservative  of 
natural  rights,  and  may  lawfully  be  awakened  and  moved  to  their 
restoration.  Give  me  again  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
It  reads  thus : — 

"The  history  of  the  present  king  of  Great  Britain  is  a  history  of  repeated  injuries 
and  usurpations,  all  having,  in  direct  object,  the  establishment  of  an  absolute  tyranny 
over  these  states.     To  prove  this,  let  facts  be  submitted  to  a  candid  world." 

"  A  candid  world !"  This  was  the  tribunal,  the  only  tribunal,, 
acknowledged  by  thirteen  feeble  colonies,  planted  by  exiles  of 
whom  Europe  was  not  worthy.  Observe  how,  with  seeming 
haughtiness,  but  real  and  just  self-reliance,  they  appealed  from 
the  British  throne  to  the  candid  world.  And  the  appeal  was 
thoughtfully  taken,  not  to  the  governments  of  the  world,  but  to- 
their  constituents — to  the  world  itself. 

Ireland,  yet,  as  well  as  then,  a  province  of  the  same  empire,, 
appeals  in  a  like  controversy  from  the  same  throne  to  the  same 
world.  In  that  august  tribunal,  America  has  now  an  acknowl- 
edged, perhaps  it  would  not  be  presumptuous  to  say,  the  highest 
place.  Can  we  disallow  to  Ireland  an  appeal  identical  with  that,, 
by  maintaining  which,  America  acquired  the  right  of  umpirage 
among  the  nations  ? 

But  popular  complaints  are  sometimes  unreasonable.  Is  the 
appeal  of  the  people  of  Ireland  well  grounded?  They  complain 
that  the  history  of  not  one  king,  or  of  one  queen  only,  but  of  all 
the  kings,  and  of  all  the  queens,  and  of  all  the  regents,  and  of  all 
the  protectors,  and  of  all  the  parliaments  of  Great  Britain  for 
more  than  six  centuries,  is  a  history  of  continued  wrongs,  and 
aggravated  usurpations.  This  excited  people,  forgetting  more 
ancient  sufferings  consequent  perhaps  on  their  subjugation  by 
conquest  in  a  barbarous  age,  complain  especially  of  oppression 
during  a  period  of  high  civilization  and  refinement.  They  allege- 
that  the  sway  of  Elizabeth,  recalled  by  Englishmen  as  one  of 
triumph,  repose,  and  general  happiness  —  of  James  —  of  Charles,, 
whom  lo}Tal  subjects  call  the  martyr  —  of  Cromwell,  variously 
regarded  as  a  deliverer,  and  a  regicide  —  of  the  second  James  — 
of  William  and  Mary,  distinguished  as  of  "  blessed  and  immortal 
memory"- — of  Anne  —  of  all  the  Georges  —  and  even  of  the  pres- 
ent youthful  and  virtuous  queen,  however  benign  toward  other 
portions  of  the  empire — has,  in  regard  to  Ireland,  been  marked 


156  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

with  all  the  acts  that  define  relentless  tyranny.  The  people  of 
that  unhappy  country  submit  facts  to  justify  these  high  accusa- 
tions before  the  "  candid  world." 

I  dwell  not  now  on  the  rapine  of  the  armies  of  Elizabeth,  dis- 
tinguished by  the  refined  inhumanity  of  destroying,  year  after 
year,  the  growing  corn  in  the  fields,  so  as  to  depopulate  the 
country  by  starvation  —  nor  on  the  outlawry  of  the  whole  people, 
so  that  Irishmen,  and  Irish  women,  described  in  the  royal  procla- 
mations as  "  Irish  enemies,"  might  lawfully  be  murdered  by 
whomsoever  the  unhappy  fugitives  might  chance  to  meet  by  the 
way-side ;  nor  on  the  confiscation  of  a  fourth  of  the  island,  and 
the  expulsion  of  the  inhabitants  by  the  sword,  and  the  terrors  of 
the  scaffold,  under  the  first  James ;  nor  on  the  perjured  verdicts, 
and  bribery -procured  judgments,  under  Charles  I. ;  nor  on  the 
fierce  and  barbarous  civil  war,  in  which  Ireland  was  punished  by 
Cromwell  with  the  deportation  of  eighty  thousand  persons  for 
loyalty  to  the  throne  that  England  herself  restored  after  a  brief 
interregnum ;  nor  of  the  spoliations  committed  by  the  Second 
James  upon  the  faithful  defenders  of  his  imbecile  dynasty  in  Ire- 
land; nor  of  the  treaty  of  Limerick,  that  guarantied  to  the  Irish 
people  the  free  and  unfettered  exercise  of  their  religion,  perfid- 
iously violated  by  enactments  which  forbade  the  Catholic  to  charge 
his  land  with  provisions  for  the  support  of  his  wife  or  his  daughters, 
or  even  to  dispose  of  his  land  by  last  will  and  testament ;  which 
denied  him  the  guardianship  and  education  of  his  children ;  which 
solicited  the  son  to  mercenary  and  corrupt  confession  of  the 
Protestant  faith,  by  offering  him  the  estate  of  his  living  father ; 
which  transferred  to  the  first  Protestant  who  might  meet  the 
retiring  purchaser,  chattels,  and  even  lands  bought  by  a  Catholic 
with  his  own  treasure  ;  which,  for  the  consideration  of  one  shil- 
ling, authorized  any  Protestant  to  deprive  a  Catholic  of  any 
estate  acquired  by  devise  or  gift ;  which  suppressed  schools  by 
confiscating  the  estate  of  the  pupil,  and  banishing  the  school- 
master on  pain  of  death ;  which  disabled  the  Catholic  from  all 
trusts,  civil,  military,  and  ecclesiastical,  even  for  voting  for  his 
own  representatives ;  for  bearing  arms  as  a  common  soldier  in 
defence  of  his  country,  and  for  offering  public  prayers  and  sac- 
rifices. I  speak  not  of  these  enormous  and  atrocious  wrongs, 
the  incidents  and  consequences  of  sectarian  wars  in  an  age  when 
^Christianity  so  far  forgot  the  precepts  of  her  divine  Author,  as 


IRELAND  AND  IRISHMEN.  157 

to  drive  Charity  from  her  side  and  surround  herself  with  minis- 
ters of  desolation.  These  wrongs  have  lately  ceased,  though 
their  impress  is  still  left  on  the  social  condition  of  Ireland,  and 
their  memory  is  still  written  in  the  mutual  prejudices  of  the 
Celtic  and  Saxon  races.  I  speak  of  Ireland  as  she  is,  and  of  her 
existing  wrongs. 

It  is  recorded  among  the  grievances  suffered  by  our  fore- 
fathers, that  the  king  of  England  had  taken  away  their  charters, 
abolished  their  most  valuable  laws,  and  altered  fundamentally 
the  powers  of  their  provincial  governments.  The  act  of  union, 
abolishing  the  Irish  parliament,  and  conferring  on  the  legisla- 
ture of  the  United  Kingdom  exclusive  power  to  legislate  for 
Ireland  —  what  was  this  but  taking  away  the  charter  of  Ireland^ 
altering  fundamentally  its  form  of  government,  and  abrogating 
the  British  constitution  as  to  that  part  of  the  empire?  And 
what  was  granted  to  Ireland  in  lieu  of  the  power  of  self-legisla- 
tion? Eepresentation  in  a  legislature  whose  sessions  are  con- 
fined to  the  metropolis  of  the  conquering  state.  And  what 
representation?  Eight  millions  of  people  represented  in  both 
houses  of  parliament  by  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  members,, 
while  the  remaining  sixteen  millions  within  the  United  lungdom 
have  one  thousand  and  sixty-one  representatives.  The  Church  of 
England,  supported  by  the  public  treasury  and  by  compulsory 
tithes,  and  its  hierarchy  installed  as  an  estate  spiritual  in  the 
senate ;  while  the  church  of  Ireland,  that  is  to  say,  the  church 
of  three  fourths  of  its  inhabitants,  coeval  with  the  introduction 
of  Christianity,  is  proscribed,  oppressed,  and  despoiled.  The 
aristocracy,  or  landed  interest  of  England,  represented  in  the 
house  of  lords  by  three  hundred  and  eighty-eight  peers ;  while 
the  nobility  of  Ireland,  having  equal  claim  to  veneration,  if  ven- 
eration be  at  all  due  to  any  aristocracy,  are  represented  by 
twenty-seven  barons.  The  commoners,  the  merchants,  farmers, 
and  artisans  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales,  having  five  hun- 
dred and  fifty-three  representatives,  with  the  right  of  suffrage 
vested  in  one  of  every  twenty-five  persons,  while  the  same 
classes  in  Ireland  are  limited  to  representation  by  one  hundred 
and  Rye  delegates,  and  suffrage  is  exercised  by  only  one  of  four 
hundred  of  the  people. 

Where  fundamental  laws  are  so  radically  unequal  and  unjust, 
we  Americans  have  no  need  to  inquire  after  their  operation. 


158  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

We  at  least  know  that  there  must  be  misrule,  oppression,  and  suf- 
fering, where  there  are  inequality  and  unrestrained  power.  And 
60  it  has  happened  in  Ireland.  With  island  shores,  and  with 
ports  and  harbors  as  accessible  and  capacious  as  any  on  the  other 
side  of  the  channel  or  on  the  shores  of  the  German  ocean,  Ire- 
land has  only  shopkeepers ;  while  the  princely  merchants  of 
England  are  conducting  the  commerce  of  the  world.  The  flags 
of  all  nations  wave  over  the  docks  of  the  Thames ;  but,  if  we 
except  the  constantly-plying  passage-boat,  almost  the  only  vessel 
seen  in  the  port  of  Kingston  is  the  hulk  employed  to  transport 
peasants  degraded  into  the  commission  of  crime,  to  the  islands 
of  the  South  seas.  With  a  more  benignant  climate,  and  with 
capacity  for  more  diversified  production,  Ireland  has  a  wretched 
agriculture ;  yet  in  England,  the  interests  of  agriculture  prevail 
in  the  conduct  of  the  government.  Workshops  supplying  more 
than  half  the  globe  with  fabrics  are  maintained  in  England, 
while,  with  the  exception  of  a  not  very  prosperous  manufacture 
of  linen,  the  din  of  industry  is  scarcely  heard  in  the  towns  and 
villages  of  the  sister  island.  The  earnings  of  the  people,  scanty 
as  they  are,  are  drawn  away  by  foreign  landlords,  who  return 
nothing  in  exchange  but  drafts  for  more ;  and  the  laborers,  natu- 
rally contented  and  vivacious,  are  reduced  to  destitution  of  what 
in  any  well-ordered  society  are  regarded  as  articles  necessary  for 
human  subsistence.  Irishmen  constitute  a  large  portion  of  the 
marine  of  Great  Britain  in  every  sea,  and  of  her  armies  in  every 
continent — in  Canada,  at  Gibraltar,  in  Africa,  in  India,  and  in 
China.  Exiled  Irishmen  have  covered  our  own  territory  with  a 
networks  of  roads  and  artificial  rivers ;  and  yet,  of  the  eight  mil- 
lions who  remain  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  imperial  legislation, 
two  millions  are  paupers !  What  cause  other  than  unequal  legis- 
lation can  there  be  for  the  inequality  of  social  condition  I  have 
described? 

And  what  have  the  people  of  Ireland  to  expect  from  continu- 
ing their  present  constitution  ?  Let  the  course  of  past  adminis- 
tration furnish  the  reply.  Every  melioration  solicited  has  been 
resisted  as  an  unconstitutional  demand.  Nothing  has  been 
yielded  to  petition  however  humble,  to  mere  remonstrance  how- 
ever earnest,  to  debate  however  conclusive.  Sedition  alone  has 
obtained  concession,  and  concession  has  always  been  balanced 
by  new  restrictions  and  usurpations.     The  Catholic  disfranchise- 


IRELAND  AND  IRISHMEN.  159 

ments  were  removed,  but  the  franchise  was  destroyed ;  tithes 
were  alleviated,  but  a  coercive  collection  established.  The  sup- 
port of  the  poor  was  rendered  less  onerous,  but  the  people  were 
disarmed.  Even  now,  the  ministry,  yielding  to  fear  of  the  popu- 
lar movement  they  have  affected  to  despise,  offer  bribes  to  the 
church  whose  existence  has  furnished  the  chief  apology  for  long 
oppression,  but  they  take  care  at  the  same  time  to  fill  the  island 
with  soldiery  and  encircle  it  with  ships-of-war. 

Do  the  ministry  plead  that  Ireland  can  only  be  governed  by 
arbitrary  power  ?  Away  wTith  that  pretence.  We  know,  for  we 
have  proved,  that  power  is  only  necessary  to  enforce  unequal 
laws,  and  that  mankind,  in  the  love  of  peace  and  the  earnest 
pursuit  of  happiness,  submit  only  too  patiently  to  misgovernment 
wThich  can  be  endured. 

For  less  than  the  least  of  all  the  wrongs  of  which  Ireland  com- 
plains, and  only  complains,  America  rebelled,  and  subverted  (not 
a  despotism  like  that  under  which  Ireland  is  subjugated,  but) 
the  British  constitution  modified  by  colonial  laws — the  best,  the 
wisest,  and  the  most  liberal  form  of  government  that,  until  then, 
the  world  had  known. 

In  what  spirit  does  Ireland  urge  her  demands?  She  asks  no 
reprisal,  no  indemnity,  no  atonement  for  injuries  past,  for  wealth 
wasted  and  despoiled,  and  for  blood,  the  blood  of  her  sons,  shed 
in  vain  efforts  for  her  freedom,  on  the  scaffold,  in  every  city,  and 
in  a  hundred  battle-fields,  and  by  assassination  in  the  highways 
throughout  all  her  borders.  She  asks  only  guaranties  of  future 
security  and  melioration  —  guaranties  so  imperfect  as  to  seem  to 
us  a  mockery.  Those  guaranties  consist  in  the  restoration  of  her 
own  provincial  legislature,  wThile  the  throne  shall  stand  unshaken, 
abridged  of  none  of  its  powrer  or  influence,  and  continued  in  the 
same  exclusive  succession.  And  this  reform  is  sought  to  be 
obtained,  not  by  aid  of  foreign  intervention,  nor  by  insurrection, 
nor  even  by  sedition ;  but  by  appeals  to  the  sympathies  of  man- 
kind and  to  the  magnanimity  of  England  —  in  perfect  conformity 
with  the  existing  constitution,  and  with  complete  submission  to 
the  existing  courts  of  justice.  The  noblest  spectacle  of  national 
moderation  ever  witnessed  was  when  Daniel  O'Connell  submit- 
ted to  arrest,  and  dispersed  to  their  wretched  homes  the  excited 
assemblage  at  Clontarf. 

Survey  for  a  moment,  fellow-citizens,  this  Doric  edifice  beneath 


ICO  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

whose  arches  we  are  assembled,  and  from  whose  portals  we  look 
down  npon  the  confluence  of  the  rivers  with  the  tides  of  the  sea. 
Is  it  not  venerated  in  our  memories  and  dear  to  our  affections  ? 
And  why  ?  It  is  our  capitol.  Within  its  halls  were  framed  our 
organic  law,  which  restrains  the  power  of  even  our  own  represen- 
tatives ;  and  here,  by  those  representatives,  we  make  laws  as  the 
varying  condition  of  society  requires,  for  the  greater  security  of 
our  property,  our  lives,  and  our  liberty.  Here  Jay's  gentle  and 
benevolent  influence  worked  out  the  abolition  of  domestic  servi- 
tude within  our  borders ;  here  Tompkins  matured  his  plans  of 
public  defence,  and  Clinton  his  mighty  schemes  for  the  physical 
improvement  and  social  advancement  of  the  state  of  New  York. 
Ireland,  in  population,  in  wealth,  in  historic  fame,  excels  all  that 
we  have  attained.  And  Ireland  has  her  capitol.  The  college- 
green  lends  as  cheerful  a  shading  to  its  massive  walls,  as  does 
the  foliage  of  your  beautiful  park  to  this  seat  of  our  own  con- 
centrated republican  authority.  The  Corinthian  columns,  lofty 
arches,  and  heroic  statuary,  of  the  Irish  parliament-house,  express 
a  memory  of  national  achievements  and  renown,  such  as  for  us 
are  only  in  prospect.  Suppose  now,  if  a  supposition  so  violent 
be  possible,  that  the  American  Congress,  in  which  we  enjoy  a  just 
representation  delegated  by  our  own  universal  suffrage,  should 
obtain  by  fraud  or  force,  or  even  without  either,  a  surrender  of 
legislative  power  from  our  representatives  here,  and  usurp  exclu- 
sive power  of  legislation  ;  suppose  a  banking  corporation  installed 
within  these  walls,  with  its  hoarding  vaults  and  the  tables  of  its 
money-changers;  suppose  this  usurpation  so  recent  that  its  inju- 
rious effects  had  not  begun  to  be  disclosed,  and  that  the  state 
was  still  going  forward,  apparently  unchecked,  in  its  course  of 
prosperity  and  fame :  —  think  you  that  we  should  therefore  rest 
content  under  the  great  calamity  ?  No !  you  and  I  would  be 
repealers.  Every  man  and  every  woman  would  demand  repeal. 
Instead  of  mottoes  of  prudence,  of  peace  and  submission,  such 
as  meet  my  view  here  on  every  side,  the  one  word  "repeal" 
alone  would  be  inscribed  on  the  banners  of  the  masses  that 
would  be  in  motion  in  every  region  of  the  state,  from  the  sandy 
shores  of  Suffolk  to  the  verge  of  our  inland  seas.  Our  chil- 
dren would  be  taught  to  repeat  the  word  "repeal,"  and  the 
echo  from  every  voice  be  the  only  answer  given  to  the  mis- 
erable apology  that  we  were  betrayed  by  our  own  representa- 


IRELAND  AND  IRISHMEN.  161 

tives,  or  that  we  were  incompetent  to  legislate  for  ourselves. 
Yet  such  a  usurpation  as  I  have  vainly  asked  you  to  imagine, 
was  committed  against  the  people  of  Ireland  by  the  passage  of 
the  act  of  union,  and  such  a  restoration  as  you  would  demand  or 
enforce  in  such  a  case  is  the  very  restoration  which  that  people 
ask,  but  have  not  demanded  until  after  forty  years'  experience 
of  their  privation. 

What,  then  shall  repress  our  sympathies  for  the  people  of  Ire- 
land? Shall  consanguinity  to  England?  We  have  found  that 
the  ties  of  kindred  could  not  secure  ourselves  against  oppres- 
sion. Shall  they  prevent  us  from  being  just  to  those  who  suffer 
oppression  % 

Shall  we  fear  to  give  offence  to  England  ?  That  country  would 
need  only  such  a  manifestation  of  American  pusillanimity  to 
encourage  the  spirit  of  aggression  that  has  survived  her  power  to 
hold  us  in  subjection.  England  is  herself  the  foe  of  tyranny.  It 
is  from  her  we  derived  our  passion  for  liberty,  and  the  impulsive 
spirit  of  social  advancement.  It  is  from  her  Hampdens  that  we 
learned  the  value  of  legislatures  responsible  to  the  people.  She 
hates  all  oppression  except  that  which  she  inflicts.  She  will 
respect  and  honor  us  the  more,  the  more  we  show  that  the  instinct 
of  liberty  has  survived  our  separation  from  the  parent  state. 

Are  we  afraid  of  retaliating  sympathies  which  may  disturb 
systems  of  oppression  lingering  among  ourselves  !  And  what  if 
this  be  the  consequence  ?  Let  it  come  !  Let  freedom,  universal 
freedom  come  over  this  hemisphere,  as  we  desire  to  extend  it 
over  the  other.  The  sympathetic  love  of  liberty  pervades  the 
family  of  man  in  a  mysterious  manner,  and  reveals  itself  in  the 
singular  results  that  the  restoration  of  Ireland  connects  itself  even 
by  contrary  and  opposing  agencies  with  emancipation  in  America, 
and  the  liberator  of  Ireland  becomes,  by  unforeseen  necessity  the 
champion  of  universal  freedom. 

But  a  sickly  humanity  sometimes  warns  us  to  repress  these 
sympathies  lest  we  excite  Ireland  to  insurrection,  which  will 
provoke  her  desolation  from  the  sister-island.  The  argument  of 
such  humanity  as  this  is,  that  a  repeal  of  the  act  of  union  can  not 
be  effected.  And  why  ?  Not  because  the  parliament  of  Great 
Britain  can  not  be  moved,  for  you  will  bear  me  witness  that  is- 
never  said;  but  because  the  monarch  will  not  consent — the 
queen  has  declared  that  she  will  not  assent  to  the  repeal.     Thus> 

Vol.  III.— 11 


162  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

then,  it  is  the  will  of  one  person  only,  and  that  person  a  woman, 
that  prevents  the  restoration  of  the  natural  and  inalienable  rights 
of  eight  millions.  How  absurd  does  this  seem  to  Americans ! 
No  wonder  that  the  Liberator  perseveres,  and  that  the  people 
place  faith,  and  hope,  and  confidence,  in  his  promises,  the  royal 
veto  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  In  limited  monarchies,  at 
least,  the  royal  will  is  only  the  will  of  the  prevailing  party  in  the 
state,  and,  therefore,  is  very  flexible.  Queens  have  been  known 
to  relent,  and  kings  too.  A  king  of  Great  Britain  signed  the 
reform  bill;  a  king  approved  the  Catholic  emancipation  act,  and 
the  most  inflexible  monarch  of  them  all  acknowledged  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States. 

And  yet  all  had  as  firmly  declared  their  never-to-be-ended 
opposition  to  these  revolutionary  measures,  as  Victoria  has  her 
determination  that  the  act  of — union  shall  be  perpetual. .  Man- 
kind have  learned  how  to  soften  royal  wills,  and  happily  Ireland 
is  showing  how  it  can  be  done  without  such  human  sacrifices  as 
have  heretofore  made  the  attempt  fearfully  calamitous.  Ireland 
wants  no  civil  war,  nor  England  either.  Such  a  war  might 
indeed  complete  the  exhaustion  of  Ireland,  but  the  bereaved  state 
could  not  long  survive.  We  want  no  civil  wars  in  Great  Britain 
or  elsewhere.  The  mission  of  America  among  the  nations  is 
indeed  one  of  republicanism,  of  liberty — but  it  is,  nevertheless, 
one  of  peace  and  good- will  to  men.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  we 
invoke  the  censure  of  mankind  against  England.  She  knows  its 
power,  for  she  has  often  excited  and  directed  it,  and  with  auspi- 
cious results,  to  her  immortal  honor  be  it  acknowledged.  She 
dare  not,  and  will  not,  defy  it.  We  know,  indeed,  her  vast  mili- 
tary power.  We  know  that  the  drumbeat  of  her  armies  begins 
with  the  morning,  "  and  keeping  company  with  the  hours,  encir- 
cles the  earth  with  one  unbroken  strain  of  the  martial  airs  of 
England."  But  we  know,  also,  that  the  era  of  military  despotism 
is  passing  away  —  that  a  greater  and  more  beneficent  power  has 
arisen.  The  moral  power  of  mankind  waits  not  to  be  awakened 
by  the  sun  —  it  halts  not  for  the  dilatory  progress  of  the  hours, 
nor  does  it  die  away  as  they  pass  on.  It  pervades  camps  not 
only,  but  cabinets,  and  courts,  and  cities,  and  towns,  villages, 
hamlets,  and  rural  fields ;  it  defeats  the  designs  of  tyranny  in 
their  conception,  and  converts  hostile  armies  into  embassies  of 
benevolence  and  civilization. 


IRELAND  AND  IRISHMEN.  163 

This  is  the  only  foreign  agent  invoked  and  relied  upon  by  the 
people  of  Ireland.  They  exhibit  the  first  instance  of  a  revolution 
begun  and  prosecuted  under  the  influences  of  humanity,  and  in 
harmony  with  the  injunctions  and  sanctions  of  the  gospel  of 
peace.  Shall  we,  who  achieved  our  freedom  by  sacrifices  of 
blood,  our  own  and  freely-drawn  from  other  lands — we,  who  have 
liberally  lent  sympathy,  money,  arms,  and  men,  to  other  revolu- 
tionary states,  refuse  our  sanction  to  the  peaceful,  heroic,  sublime 
revolution  of  Ireland  %  Freedom,  magnanimity,  humanity,  Chris- 
tianity— blessed  memories  of  the  past,  irrepressible  impulses  of 
the  present,  lofty  hopes  for  the  future,  throughout  all  generations, 
in  all  climes — earth  and  heaven  forbid! 

Fellow-citizens,  I  take  this  chair  deeply  affected  by  the  kind- 
ness which  assigns  me  so  honorable  a  place.  These  halls  have 
for  me,  some  associations  of  profound  interest.  Be  assured  that 
I  shall  cherish  the  recollection  of  this  occasion  with  as  grateful 
satisfaction,  as  the  remembrance  of  any  of  the  associations  which 
I  may  rightfully  recall  with  pride  or  pleasure.  Language  fails 
to  supply  me  with  a  more  grateful  form  of  acknowledgment. 


164  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 


AGKICULTUKE. 

Fellow-Citizens  :  The  display  of  animal  and  vegetable  produc- 
tions, the  expositions  of  culture  and  the  trial  of  implements  of 
tillage,  under  the  patronage  of  the  JSTew  York  State  Agricultural 
Society  are  completed ;  and  it  only  remains  to  confer  the  civic 
prizes  which  have  been  so  honorably  won.  —  Shall  scenes  so  ani- 
mating though  so  peaceful,  so  instructive  though  so  simple,  pass 
without  comment? 

If  our  country  has  a  citizen  imbued  with  the  philanthropy  and 
learned  in  the  philosophy  of  agriculture,  eminent  in  political 
wisdom  and  transcendent  in  eloquence,  here  are  his  forum  and 
his  theme.  Such  a  citizen  you  have  expected  to  hear.*  Let  my 
temerity  in  assuming  the  place  he  has  left  vacant  and  others 
have  declined,  find  an  apology  in  the  gratitude  which  the  abun- 
dant kindness  of  my  fellow-citizens  has  inspired. 

In  that  time-worn  tower  which  tells  many  a  deed  of  treachery 
and  of  tyranny,  the  British  government  exhibits  the  armor  and 
arms  of  kings,  nobles,  knights,  soldiers,  and  seamen,  who  have 
borne  the  standard  of  St.  George  around  the  circumference  of 
the  globe.  France,  with  pride  more  refined,  displays  in  the  gal- 
leries of  the  Louvre,  the  chefs  Wo&uvre  of  her  artists  with  what 
she  yet  retains  of  the  productions  of  the  pencil  and  the  chisel  of 
which  Napoleon  despoiled  the  nations  of  Europe.  These  monu- 
ments excite  admiration,  but  they  leave  generous  and  grateful 
sympathies  unmoved ;  while  the  benevolent  mind  recognises  in 
the  axe,  the  plough,  and  the  loom,  agents  of  civilization  and  hu- 
manity, and  exalts  them  above  all  the  weapons  that  ambition  and 

Note. — This  address  was  delivered  at  the  capitol  in  the  city  of  Albany,  on  the  29th 
of  September,  1842,  on  the  occasion  of  the  annual  Fair  of  the  New  York  State  Agricul- 
tural Society. 

*  Daniel  Webster. 


AGRICULTURE.  165 

rapine  have  forged,  and  even  above  all  the  embellishments  of 
social  life  that  arts  merely  ornamental  have  ever  produced.  JSTor 
need  we  overvalue  our  agricultural  inventions,  or  bestow  exag- 
gerated praise  upon  their  authors.  Admitting  the  inferiority  of 
our  schools  to  the  universities  of  Europe,  and  the  deficiency  of 
our  artisans  in  learning  and  experience,  we  may  yet  maintain 
that  all  scientific  acquirements  here,  and  all  inventions,  pass  im- 
mediately to  the  general  use  and  contribute  directly  to  the  gen- 
eral welfare.  Such  are  now  our  means  of  diffusing  and  preserv- 
ing knowledge,  that  no  really  useful  invention  can  either  be  lost 
or  fail  to  be  employed  in  every  region  of  our  country.  Let  this 
festival — 

'Paste-rally  sweet 
And  rurally  magnificent" — 

be  continued,  and  the  increasing  emulation  of  our  yeomanry  and 
mechanics  maintained,  and  the  effect  will  be  seen  not  only  in  the 
improvement  of  agriculture,  but  in  the  melioration  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  people.  Thirty  years  before  the  Revolutionary  war, 
at  a  celebration  in  Massachusetts,  the  matrons  and  maidens  of 
Boston  appeared  on  the  Mall,  each  industriously  plying  the  busy 
spinning-wheel.  Need  it  then  excite  surprise  that  our  sister-state 
now  excels  with  the  shuttle,  and  extorts  wealth  from  the  floods, 
the  ice,  and  the  rocks?  The  character  of  a  people  may  be 
studied  in  their  amusements.  The  warlike  Greeks  fixed  their 
-epochs  on  the  recurrence  of  the  Olympic  games.  The  husband- 
men of  Switzerland  at  stated  periods  celebrate  the  introduction 
of  the  vine.  Well  may  we,  then,  continue  ovations  in  honor  of 
Agriculture,  which,  while  they  give  expression  to  national  re- 
joicing, promote  the  welfare  of  our  country  and  the  good  of 
mankind. 

Farmers  of  New  York  :  you  do  wisely  in  collecting  from  every 
district  and  every  region  the  various  species  of  plants,  and  adopt- 
ing such  as  find  our  soil  and  climate  most  congenial ;  in  intro- 
ducing new  branches  of  culture  and  mechanic  industry ;  in 
•choosing  out  of  domestic  and  foreign  stocks  the  animals  which 
propagate  most  rapidly,  with  the  least  expense  of  subsistence, 
and  yield  the  largest  returns  for  the  husbandman's  care ;  in 
stimulating  invention  to  the  discovery  of  new  principles  of  til- 
lage, machines,  and  implements,  for  increasing  the  fertility  of 


166  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

the  soil  and  the  productiveness  of  human  labor.      But  these . 
efforts  alone,  well  conceived  and  beneficent  as  they  are,  do  not 
fulfil  the  responsibilities  of  the  American  farmer. 

Similar  exertions,  though  less  effective,  have  been  made  by  the 
tillers  of  the  earth  in  every  age,  however  benighted,  and  in  every 
country,  however  subjected.  The  God  of  Nature  has  given  us  a 
territory  stretching  through  fifty  degrees  of  longitude  with  almost 
the  breadth  of  the  temperate  zone,  embosoming  numerous  lakes 
and  traversed  by  capacious  rivers.  Every  variety  of  soil  north 
of  the  tropics,  and  every  mineral  resource,  with  mountain,  forest, 
and  plain,  are  abundantly  supplied.  We  stand  in  relation  to  this 
wide  territory  not  unlike  the  progenitor  of  our  race  in  regard  to 
the  earth  over  which  he  received  dominion  from  the  Almighty. 
He  has  permitted  us  to  learn  wisdom  from  the  rugged  experience 
of  almost  sixty  centuries,  and  to  establish  a  system  of  government 
new  and  peculiar,  which,  while  it  effectually  secures  personal 
rights  and  domestic  tranquillity,  does  not  favor  war,  and  is  not 
adapted  to  aggression,  which  chastens  avarice  and  represses  am- 
bition, which  favors  equality,  subdues  individual  power,  and 
stimulates,  strengthens,  and  combines  the  power  of  the  masses — ■ 
a  system  resting  on  the  consent  and  kept  in  action  only  by  the 
agency  of  the  governed.  To  these  advantages  is  added  a  social 
organization  which  rejects  in  every  form  the  principles  of  invol- 
untary or  reluctant  labor  and  gradation  among  the  members  of 
the  state,  and  by  offering  equal  rewards  calls  forth  the  equal 
industry  and  enterprise  of  every  citizen.  These  peculiarities  of 
our  political  and  social  condition  indicate  an  era  in  civilization, 
and  inspire  a  generous  confidence  that  it  may  be  our  privilege  to 
open  for  our  race  the  way  to  a  brighter  and  better  destiny  than 
has  yet  been  attained. 

Hitherto  civilized  men,  enslaved. or  oppressed,  have  doubted 
whether  advancement  from  the  savage  state  of  existence  was  a 
blessing,  and  have  struggled  for  liberty  as  if  mere  liberty  was 
the  end  of  human  achievement.  But  we  have  learned  that  civil 
liberty  is  only  one  of  the  conditions  of  human  happiness,  and  is- 
desirable  chiefly  because  it  favors  that  social  advancement  which 
is  the  ever-fulfilling  destiny  of  mankind.  In  every  stage  of  that 
advancement  hitherto,  agricultural  improvement  has  been  last, 
though  it  should  always  be  first.  By  agriculture,  nations  exist ; 
it  supports  and  clothes  mankind ;  it  furnishes  the  resources  for 


AGRICULTURE.        N  167 

protection  and  defence,  and  the  means  even  of  moral  improve- 
ment and  intellectual  cultivation.  Portions  of  a  community, 
cities,  and  even  states,  may  exist  by  exercising  the  mechanic 
arts,  or  by  going  down  to  the  sea  in  ships,  but  there  must  never- 
theless be  somewhere  some  larger  agri-cultural  community  to 
furnish  the  productions  and  fabrics  indispensable  even  in  such 
forms  of  society.  The  necessary  minerals,  iron,  lead,  copper,  and 
others,  are  beneficial  only  because  they  are  employed  in  aid  of 
agriculture,  or  in  preparing  its  productions  for  our  use,  and  even 
the  metals  which  by  consent  of  mankind  are  called  precious, 
have  no  value  except  as  representatives  of  the  fruits  of  industry. 
Other  interests  may  rise  and  fall,  and  other  masses  may  combine, 
dissolve,  and  re-combine,  and  the  agricultural  mass  be  scarcely 
affected,  but  the  whole  body  politic  sympathize  when  this  interest 
is  depressed  and  this  class  suffers. 

"  Princes  and  lords  may  flourish  or  may  fade, 
A  breath  can  make  them,  as  a  breath  has  made : 
But  a  bold  peasantry  —  their  country's  pride  — 
When  once  destroyed,  can  never  be  supplied." 

It  is  an  obvious  responsibility  of  the  American  people  to  re- 
store the  natural  and  proper  order  of  social  improvement,  by 
renovating  agriculture — for  this  is  the  tendency  of  our  institu- 
tions. It  is  a  maxim  in  other  countries  that  society  necessarily 
consists  of  two  classes  —  the  ruling  few  and  the  governed  many. 
The  latter  are  designated  under  the  most  liberal  forms  of  govern- 
ment as  "  the  laboring  poor ;"  in  the  polished  countries  of  the 
South  as  "peasantry,"  and  in  the  ruder  North  as  "  serfs."  Here 
we  know  not  as  a  class,  serfs,  peasantry,  or  poor ;  and  the  labor- 
ing many  constitute  society. — Whether  designedly  or  not,  they 
who  apply  to  our  condition  analogies  derived  from  monarchical 
or  aristocratic  states  would  mislead  us,  and  those  deceive  them- 
selves who  expect  that  our  government  will  operate  otherwise 
than  for  the  security  and  benefit  of  the  masses.  The  legislators 
of  our  country  are  its  citizens;  and  since  the  predominating 
mass  of  citizens  consist  of  tillers  of  the  soil,  the  American  farmer 
is  the  American  statesman.  The  government,  therefore,  neces- 
sarily tends  to  sustain  and  promote  agriculture. 

In  Europe  the  cost  of  land  fit  for  tillage  is  twice  or  three  times 
greater  than  here ;  the  price  of  labor  here  is  more  than  double 


168  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

that  in  Europe.  Our  land  is  therefore  cultivated  imperfectly, 
and  its  productions  are  seldom  equal  to  one  half  its  capacity. — 
Thus  one  of  our  great  advantages  is  counterbalanced  by  a  defi- 
ciency of  physical  force.  Not  withstanding  our  population  aug- 
ments with  unprecedented  rapidity,  by  domestic  increase  and 
immigration — yet  such  is  the  demand  for  labor  and  service  in 
commercial  towns,  and  in  the  improvement  of  roads  and  rivers, 
and  so  attractive  are  our  new  settlements  in  the  west,  that  the 
deficiency  of  labor  continues  the  same,  and  its  value  under  ordi- 
nary circumstances  constantly  increases.  Immigration  therefore 
is  an  auxiliary  to  agriculture.  The  condition  of  society  in  Eu- 
rope favors  emigration.  The  nations  are  reposing  after  long  and 
exhausting  wars.  The  masses  increase  in  disproportion  to  their 
territory  and  subsistence ;  and  although  a  democratic  spirit  is 
abroad,  slowly  renovating  their  institutions,  there  is  still-  a  rest- 
less desire  to  participate  in  our  social  advantages,  and  enjoy  our 
perfect  liberty. — 'But  with  the  sturdy,  enterprising,  and  virtuous 
immigrants,  there  will  also  arrive  on  our  shores,  the  infirm,  the 
indolent,  and  the  depraved,  while  a  change  of  home  and  country 
is  always  liable  to  be  attended  by  accident  and  misfortune. 
These  circumstances  increase  the  charges  for  public  charity  and 
justice  in  our  populous  cities,  and  hence  their  inhabitants  often 
regard  immigration  as  itself  a  calamity. 

But,  aside  from  all  questions  of  humanity  —  if  we  compare  this 
incidental  misfortune  with  the  addition  to  the  national  wealth 
and  strength  derived  from  the  one  hundred  thousand  immigrants 
who  annually  disperse  themselves  over  the  country,  and  take  into 
consideration  the  increase  of  our  physical  strength  by  their  de- 
scendants, we  find  every  principle  of  political  economy  sanction- 
ing the  policy  of  our  ancestors,  which  freely  opened  our  ports 
and  offered  an  asylum  to  the  exiles  of  every  land.  Nor  need  I 
urge  before  such  an  enlightened  assembly  that  prejudices  against 
Immigrants,  and  apprehensions  of  danger  from  their  association, 
are  as  unwise  as  they  are  ungenerous.  The  experience  of  man- 
kind has  proved  that  mutual  intercourse  and  very  intimate  rela- 
tions between  the  various  branches  of  the  human  family  are 
indispensable  to  the  progress  of  civilization  and  humanity. 

The  agricultural  interest,  though  the  last  to  suffer,  is  always 
slowest  in  recovering  from  any  national  calamity.  Associations 
in  other  departments  deranged  may  be  renewed.     Capital  de- 


AGRICULTURE.  169 

stroyed  may  be  supplied,  and  masses  overborne  may  recover.  — 
But  agriculture,  once  embarrassed,  is  with  difficulty  restored. 
War,  however  justifiable  or  necessary,  or  however  it  may  stimu- 
late production  for  a  season,  is  always  a  national  evil,  and  in  its 
least  desolating  form  is  destructive  of  agricultural  prosperity. 
To  cultivate  the  disposition  and  the  arts  of  peace,  and  to  guard 
against  domestic  disturbance  and  civil  discord,  are  important 
therefore,  not  merely  to  the  improvement,  but  to  the  prosperity 
of  agriculture. 

Agriculture  can  never  flourish  where  its  rewards  are  precarious 
or  inferor  in  value  to  those  obtained  in  other  departments  of  in- 
dustry. Perpetual  care  is  necessary  to  diminish  the  burdens  to 
which  it  may  be  subjected.  Hence  the  necessity  of  an  economi- 
cal conduct  of  public  affairs  —  of  improving  those  inland  communi- 
cations which  serve  for  the  conveyance  of  agricultural  productions 
to  places  of  exchange  and  consumption,  and  of  such  commercial 
regulations  as  secure  advantageous  markets  either  at  home  or 
abroad.  But  these  considerations  are  so  familiar  that  they  need 
not  be  dwelt  upon,  notwithstanding  their  acknowledged  impor- 
tance. 

The  preservation  of  equality  among  the  people  in  regard  to 
constitutional  and  legal  rights,  and  perpetual  adherence  to  the 
policy  which  by  laws  regulating  descents,  devises,  and  trusts, 
prevents  the  undue  accumulation  of  estates,  are  indispensable  to 
agricultural  prosperity.  It  is  this  policy  co-operating  with  the 
natural  advantages  of  our  position,  which  has  made  the  agricul- 
tural class  here  a  community  of  freeholders,  in  contrast  with  the 
systems  of  other  countries  under  which  lands  are  cultivated  by 
tenants,  the  rewards  of  whose  labor  pass  to  the  benefit  of  land- 
lords. 

]N"ot  only  was  the  "  primal  curse"  of  labor  universal,  but  ac- 
quiescence in  it  was  wisely  made  a  condition  of  health,  happiness, 
wisdom,  and  virtue.  This  condition,  however,  implies  that  equal 
rewards  are  allowed  to  mankind,  while  equal  labor  is  exacted 
from  them.  "Whatever  institution,  then,  on  any  pretext,  relieves 
any  portion  of  a  community  of  the  necessity  of  labor,  or  with- 
holds its  incentives  or  excludes  them  from  equal  competition  for 
its  rewards,  not  only  is  unequal  and  unjust,  but  by  diminishing 
the  whole  amount  of  social  labor,  increases  the  burdens  of  those 
on  whom  the  subsistence  of  society  depends.     We  all  are  accus- 


170  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

tomed  to  recognise  this  important  truth  in  the  operation  of  do- 
mestic servitude.  But  every  form  of  unequal  legislation,  every 
custom  and  every  prejudice  which  causes  any  mass  or  any  por- 
tion of  a  mass  to  abate  their  efforts  to  secure  independence  and 
wealth,  operates  in  the  same  manner,  although  to  a  less  extent. 

"While  the  patrons  of  agriculture  will  keep  steadily  in  view 
these  principles,  their  most  strenuous  efforts  must  be  exerted  for 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge.  To  knowledge  we  are  indebted  for 
whatever  of  ease  or  security  we  enjoy;  and  the  safety  and  hap- 
piness of  every  civilized  community  not  overborne  by  foreign 
oppression  are  exactly  in  proportion  to  its  intellectual  cultivation. 
So  also,  as  a  general  proposition,  individuals  prosper  and  exert  in- 
fluence according  to  the  standard  of  their  attainments.  This  truth 
applies  also  to  masses  in  a  community.  The  agricultural  class 
here,  as  well  as  in  every  other  country,  notwithstanding  their  num- 
bers, enjoy  comparatively  inadequate  compensation  and  abated 
influence,  because  they  have  a  lower  standard  of  education  than 
other  classes.  There  is  not,  as  is  often  supposed,  a  certain 
amount  of  knowledge  which  it  is  profitable  for  the  farmer  to 
possess,  and  dangerous  to  exceed.  Learned  men  sometimes  fail 
in  this  honorable  pursuit,  but  not  in  consequence  of  their  acquire- 
ments, and  the  number  of  such  is  vastly  less  than  of  those  who 
fail  through  ignorance.  It  is  a  fact,  which  however  mortifying, 
can  not  be  too  freely  confessed  or  too  often  published,  that  an 
inferior  education  is  held  sufficient  for  those  who  are  destined  to 
the  occupation  of  agriculture.  The  standard  established  for  them 
is  seldom  as  high  as  the  full  course  of  instruction  given  in  our 
common  schools,  and  consists  in  an  ability  to  read,  but  scarcely 
with  pleasure  or  advantage,  to  write  without  facility  or  accuracy, 
and  to  perform  simple  processes  in  the  art  of  numbers.  Higher 
attainments  than  these  are  allowed  to  all  other  classes.  The 
mechanic  and  the  artisan  are  at  least  instructed  in  the  nature  and 
properties  of  the  substances  which  they  use,  and  in  the  principles 
and  combinations  of  the  mechanical  powers  they  employ,  while 
each  profession  jealously  guards  against  the  intrusion  of  any  can- 
didate who,  however  skilful  in  its  particular  mysteries,  has  not 
completed  a  course  of  scientific  or  classical  learning. 

There  is  no  just  reason  for  this  discrimination.  The  domestic, 
social,  and  civil  responsibilities  of  the  farmer  are  precisely  the 
same  with  those  of  every  other  citizen,  while  the  political  power 


AGRICULTURE.  171 

of  his  class  is  irresistible.  The  preparation  of  the  soil  to  receive- 
a  germ,  the  culture  of  the  plant,  its  protection  against  accidents, 
and  the  gathering  of  its  fruit — each  of  these  apparently  simple 
operations  involves  principles  of  science  more  recondite  than  do 
the  studies  of  the  learned  professions.  Every  other  department 
of  industry  has  willingly  received  aid  from  science.  In  mecha- 
nism the  laws  of  power  and  motion  are  so  well  understood  that 
achievements  to  which  human  energy  was  once  deemed  inade- 
quate, are  easy  and  familiar.  The  hand  is  now  almost  unneces- 
sary in  the  fabrication  of  cloths.  Animal  power  is  beginning  to 
be  dispensed  with  in  locomotion  on  the  land,  and  the  intercourse 
between  nations  separated  by  seas,  heretofore  so  difficult  and  un- 
certain, is  rendered  speedy  and  regular  by  the  use  of  steam.  But 
agriculture  is  regarded  as  involving  no  laws  of  nature,  requiring 
no  aids,  and  capable  of  no  improvement.  Physical  power  is 
considered  the  only  suitable  agent,  and  that  power  is  most  waste- 
fully  expended.  Admitting  the  beneficent  effects  of  the  cotton 
gin,  the  improved  plough,  the  cultivator,  the  thrashing-machine, 
and  other  implements  which  have  been  instrumental  in  effecting 
a  slow  advancement  in  agriculture,  it  must  still  be  confessed  that 
while  other  arts  are  more  rapidly  improving,  this  of  human  arts 
the  first  and  last,  whose  cultivation  leads  to  plenty  and  is  cheered 
by  health  and  contentment,  remains  comparatively  unassisted 
and  stationary. 

But,  independently  of  the  aid  which  mechanical  science  owes  to 
agriculture,  if  the  principles  of  economical  geology,  of  agricultural 
chemistry,  and  of  animal  physiology,  which  have  been  laid  open  by 
Lyell,  by  Priestley,  by  Davy,  Leibig,  Johnson,  and  Dana,  and  our 
own  Buel,  were  universally  known  and  applied,  the  productive- 
ness of  the  soil  would  be  incalculably  increased.  Regarding  the 
education  of  the  agricultural  class,  then,  only  in  the  light  of 
economy,  its  importance  can  not  be  over-estimated.  But  this  is 
its  least  interesting  aspect.  Education  is  necessary  to  elevate 
the  agricultural  masses  to  their  just  eminence,  and  to  secure  their 
enlightened  action  in  the  conduct  of  government,  and  of  the 
various  interests  of  social  life.  Praises  of  agriculture,  and  ac- 
knowledgments of  the  purity,  patriotism,  and  wisdom  of  those 
who  pursue  that  most  peaceful  calling  are  the  never-failing 
themes  of  all  who  court  their  suffrages.  Yet  it  is  a  sad  truth 
that  the  interests  of  agriculture,  and  of  those  who  subsist  by  it 


172  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

are  often  considered  subordinate,  and  sometimes  injuriously  neg- 
lected. The  avenues  to  preferment  are  open  to  all,  but  they  are 
seldom  travelled  by  the  farmer.  Questions  of  peace  and  war, 
of  revenue,  of  commerce,  of  currency,  of  manufactures,  of  physi- 
cal improvement,  of  free  and  foreign  labor,  of  education,  are  too 
often  discussed  and  decided,  without  just  consideration  of  their 
bearing  upon  the  interests  of  agriculture.  The  reason  is  obvious. 
The  art  of  agriculture  is  learned  by  imitation  and  habit.  Those 
who  are  destined  to  that  pursuit  are  not  early  instructed  in  the 
principles  of  the  government,  or  its  relations  to  other  states,  in 
their  own  legal  rights,  their  civil  duties,  the  pathology  of  the 
human  constitution,  the  nature  of  the  substances  with  which 
agriculture  is  concerned,  or  their  properties,  or  the  laws  regula- 
ting their  development,  or  even  in  the  simple  art  of  tracing  geo- 
metrical lines  and  calculating  their  contents,  not  to  speak  of  the 
range  of  physical  and  exact  sciences,  history  and  ethics,  classical 
learning,  the  philosophy  of  language,  and  the  art  of  eloquence. 

These  attainments,  though  open  to  all,  are  reached  exclusively 
by  other  classes,  and  the  farmer  in  mature  years,  is  sent  to  the 
press  for  political  instruction,  while  he  must  yield  implicit  con- 
fidence to  the  clergy,  and  must  depend  upon  the  lawyer  for  the 
defence  of  his  simple  rights,  upon  the  physician  for  information 
whether  he  is  diseased,  upon  the  professor  for  explanations  of  the 
properties  of  the  soil  he  cultivates,  and  upon  the  civil-engineer 
for  even  the  measurement  of  his  acres.  When  such  dependence 
upon  these  various  classes  is  established,  can  it  be  a  matter  of 
surprise  that  precedence  is  conceded  to  them  in  the  various 
departments  of  society?  Let  me  not  be  misunderstood.  I  de- 
precate not  the  influence  of  the  learned  classes,  and  I  would 
promote  by  every  proper  means  their  higher  improvement  —  nor 
would  I  excite  jealousy  against  them,  or  in  the  least  diminish  the 
respect  or  confidence  they  enjoy  —  but  I  desire  to  see  the  agricul- 
tural class  equally  elevated,  and  for  that  purpose  I  would  stimu- 
late them  to  corresponding  attainments.  This  is  the  true  theory 
of  republican  institutions.  When  it  is  carried  into  practical  and 
complete  operation,  and  not  until  then,  shall  we  enjoy  a  regular, 
safe,  equal,  and  enlightened  administration  of  civil  government. 

Your  task,  then,  is  nothing  less  than  social  revolution  —  a  revo- 
lution, however,  which,  like  all  your  pursuits,  will  be  peaceful 
.and  beneficial.     You  aim  no  blows  at  the  government  of  the 


N, 


AGRICULTURE  17$ 

country,  or  the  power,  the  prosperity,  or  the  influence  of  any 
class  of  its  citizens.  On  the  contrary,  you  will  render  them  all 
the  aid,  and  all  the  support  they  need.  Nor  will  you  justly  en- 
counter the  opposition  of  any  class,  for  all  are  equally  interested 
with  yourselves  in  the  great  work  you  have  undertaken,  and  upon 
which  depend  the  stability  and  permanence  of  our  institution  sr 
and  the  hopes  of  mankind. 

The  agency  required  in  this  great  work  is  already  prepared, 
and  awaits  your  adoption.  The  primary  schools,  the  voluntary 
religious  establishments,  the  academic  seminaries,  and  the  uni- 
versities which  you  require,  are  already  founded,  and  liberally 
endowed.  In  our  school-district  libraries,  an  auxiliary  is  fur- 
nished, whose  efficacy  is  scarcely  surpassed  by  the  invention  of 
Cadmus,  of  Faust,  or  of  Fulton.  With  pride  and  pleasure  I  addr 
that  this  agent  was  called  into  action  by  a  farmer  of  New  York, 
James  Wads  worth.  These  libraries,  winch  are  placed  at.  almost 
every  angle  of  our  thoroughfares,  and  byways,  and  contain  treas- 
ures richer  than  those  the  world  lamented  in  the  destruction  of 
Alexandria,  may  be  made  the  vehicles  of  not  merely  the  litera- 
ture which  adorns,  but  of  the  science  which  elevates,  and  of  that 
moral  and  political  wisdom  which  gives  beneficent  direction  to 
the  human  mind. 

Little  remains  for  you  but  to  guide  the  rising  generation  to 
the  improvement  of  these  facilities,  nor  will  that  task  be  difficult. 
Science,  though  repulsive  to  the  ignorant,  is  attractive  to  the 
initiated,  and  its  attraction  increases  just  in  proportion  as  truths 
are  presented,  which  are  adapted  to  the  comprehension,  and  satis- 
fying to  the  curiosity  of  the  young  mind.  In  the  dark  ages,  the 
system  of  instruction  was  so  contrived,  as  to  present  to  faculties 
undeveloped,  the  deductions  of  science  without  their  explanation, 
and  recondite  truths  without  their  illustrations.  Whatever  was 
simple  and  easy  of  apprehension,  was  thought  unworthy  to  be 
known,  and  the  philosophy  which  explains  the  formation  of  the 
earth,  and  its  perfect  adaptation  to  the  subsistence  and  happiness 
of  our  race  was  not  then  conceived.  Something  of  this  strange 
error  still  remains,  but  a  change  has  commenced,  and  we  may 
soon  hope  to  see  a  system  of  education  which  will  lead  the  mind 
by  an  easy  and  natural  process  through  the  truths  of  external 
nature,  to  the  mysteries  of  mind,  and  the  study  of  the  Supreme 
Author. 


174  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

Let  it  be  your  effort  to  hasten  this  change,  and  thus  divest 
knowledge  of  its  repulsive  features,  to  excite  the  emulation  and 
stimulate  the  patriotism  of  the  young  by  making  known  to 
them  the  attainments  of  which  they  are  capable,  the  advantages 
they  may  acquire,  and  the  responsibilities  they  are  to  assume. 
The  desire  for  knowledge  once  excited  will  increase,  and  will 
find  ways  to  continue  its  pursuit.  Then  the  youth  destined  to 
agricultural  occupations,  instead  of  being  employed  in  perpetual 
labor,  will  be  allowed  to  acquire  the  knowledge  which  renders 
those  occupations  cheerful,  dignified,  and  successful ;  and  parents, 
instead  of  hoarding  their  gains  to  be  divided  among  their  off- 
spring to  relieve  them  from  the  necessity  of  enterprise,  will  devote 
their  wealth  freely  in  bestowing  that  better  patrimony  which  can 
not  be  lost.  Need  I  point  out  to  such  an  audience  how  this  work 
shall  be  commenced  ?  Let  it  be  the  task  of  individual  effort  to 
awaken  the  attention  of  our  fellow-citizens  to  the  importance  of 
keeping  the  common  schools  open  during  a  greater  portion  of 
every  year,  of  a  more  careful  regard  to  the  qualifications  of 
teachers,  of  the  introduction  of  the  natural  sciences  into  the 
schools,  of  allowing  the  children  of  the  state,  at  whatever  cost, 
to  persevere  in  the  course  of  education  commenced ;  and,  above 
all,  of  removing  every  impediment  and  every  prejudice  which 
keerjs  the  future  citizen  without  the  pale  of  the  public  schools. 
The  state  has  been  munificent  to  the  rising  generation.  She  has 
not  only  founded  a  system  of  universal  instruction,  but  she  has  at 
great  cost  explored  the  animal,  vegetable,  and  mineral  kingdoms, 
and  exposed  their  mysteries.  The  benefits  of  these  discoveries, 
though  diffusive,  will  be  experienced  in  an  eminent  degree  by 
agriculture. 

You  have  already  wisely  employed  the  agency  of  associa- 
tion ;  but  the  principle  is  susceptible  of  more  varied  and  com- 
prehensive application.  Be  not  content  with  organizing  a  state 
society  and  county  associations,  by  which  you  excite  the  efforts 
of  the  few  who  least  need  improvement,  but  organize  an  agricul- 
tural society  in  every  school  district,  and  thus  secure  the  co-oper- 
ation of  all  our  citizens.  Such  associations,  while  they  would 
promote  agricultural  fellowship  and  vigorously  second  efforts 
immediately  tending  to  improvement  of  the  art,  would  apply 
themselves  diligently  in  exciting  an  interest  in  the  important 
subjects  which  have  been  discussed,  and  in  circulating  treatises 


AGRICULTURE.  175 

upon  proper  studies,  and  watching  over  the  interests  of  education 
and  of  agriculture  in  the  schools,  in  the  primary  action  of  society, 
and  in  the  legislative  councils. 

But,  gentlemen,  in  whatever  direction  your  efforts  may  be 
made,  you  will  encounter  difficulties  and  discouragements.  You 
will  be  opposed  by  that  contented  spirit  which  regards  every 
improvement  as  innovation,  and  which  perpetually,  though 
falsely,  complains  that  mankind  degenerate  without  making  an 
effort  to  check  the  progress  of  error.  You  will  be  regarded  as 
visionary  by  those  who  consider  skill  in  acquiring  and  success  in 
retaining  wealth  as  the  perfection  of  human  wisdom  ;  but  you  will 
remember  that  such  as  these  seldom  bestow  their  countenance  upon 
the  benefactors  of  mankind,  nor  does  Fortune  always  distinguish 
them  by  her  favors.  Kobert  Morris,  the  financier  of  the  Eevolu- 
tion,  died  a  bankrupt.  Christopher  Colles,  our  most  efficient 
advocate  of  inland  navigation  in  the  last  century,  was  interred 
by  private  charity  in  the  Stranger's  burying-ground.  The  essays 
of  Jesse  Hawley,  which  demonstrated  the  feasibility  and  impor- 
tance of  a  continuous  canal  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hudson  river, 
were  sent  forth  from  a  debtor's  prison ;  and  De  Witt  Clinton, 
whose  name  is  written  upon  the  capital  of  every  column  of  our 
social  edifice,  was  indebted  to  private  hospitality  for  a  tomb.  It 
is  the  same  generous  and  patriotic  spirit  which  animated  these 
philanthropists,  and  sustained  them  in  their  struggles  with  the 
prejudices  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived,  that  I  desire  to  invoke 
in  favor  of  agriculture.  This  spirit,  wisely  directed,  can  not  fail, 
for  it  has  been  irresistible  in  every  department  it  has  hitherto 
entered.  But  let  us  all  remember  that  the  only  true  wray  to 
begin  reform  is  to  find  the  source  of  error;  and  that  if  we 
cultivate  man,  the  improvement  of  the  animal  and  vegetable 
kingdoms  will  surely  follow. 


176  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 


IMPROYEMENT  OF  FARMS  AND  FARMERS. 

Citizens  of  Yekmont — Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 

A  schoolmaster  from  Middlebury  taught  me  to  read  the  glow- 
ing praises  and  simple  maxims  of  Roman  agriculture  recorded  in 
the  pages  of  Yirgil.  Natives  of  Rutland  and  Bennington  were 
among  my  youthful  companions  and  early  patrons,  still  affection- 
ately and  gratefully  remembered.  Long  ago  I  seemed  to  myself 
to  have  imbibed  —  I  know  not  when  nor  how  —  many  principles, 
sentiments,  and  sympathies,  from  fountains  of  philosophy  and 
feeling  which  had  been  opened  early,  and  which  are  yet  flowing 
freely  here  in  Yermont.  Longer  than  I  can  recollect,  my  hopes 
for  my  country  and  mankind  have  had  their  anchorage  in  the 
ever-widening  prevalence  of  those  maxims  of  political  justice  and 
equal  liberty  which  have  been  always  maintained  with  unyield- 
ing constancy  in  this  state,  the  Tyrol  of  America.  I  have  won- 
dered often,  when  such  memories  as  these  have  come,  over  me, 
that  although  I  had  not  been  quite  unused  to  travel,  and  had  lived 
always  near,  yet  I  was  nevertheless  a  stranger  in  Yermont.  Long- 
delayed  wishes  of  mine  are  now  gratified.  I  am  at  last  in  Yer- 
mont. I  pay  to  her  mountains  the  homage  which  the  sublime 
in  nature  exacts ;  and  to  her  mountaineers  I  confess  that  my  mo- 
tive in  coming  was  not  so  much  to  instruct  them  as  to  seek  their 
personal  acquaintance,  and  to  thank  them  for  precious  and  cher- 
ished instructions  which  they  have  long  since  imparted  to  me. 

These,  then,  are  "  the  grants"  sold  by  New  Hampshire  without 
title,  and  won  by  force  from  New  York  when  she  perverted  title 
to  purposes  of  oppression.  In  lime  and  marble  they  are  rich,  and 
in  forest-growth  and  in  pasturage  at  least  they  are  fertile ;  and 
the  vigorous  play  of  the  elastic  air  upon  lungs  which  had  become 

Note. — This  address  was  delivered  at  the  agricultural  state  fair  of  Vermont,  which 
was  held  at  Rutland,  September  2,  1852. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  FARMS  AND  FARMERS.  177 

languid  under  southern  skies,  assures  me  that  they  are  as  health- 
ful as  they  are  romantic  and  beautiful.  Nevertheless  it  must 
have  been  no  easy  task  that  the  settler  performed  here  when  he 
removed  the  sturdy  trees  and  massive  rocks,  and  opened  the  dank 
and  festering  soil  to  the  light  and  heat  of  the  morning  sun.  it 
was  no  common  bravery  that  kept  the  savage  Indian  at  bay  while 
exterminating  the  wTolf  and  the  panther ;  and  no  common  hero- 
ism that,  while  engaged  in  the  foremost  ranks  of  the  Revolution 
for  the  deliverance  of  New  York  and  the  other  colonies  from 
British  power,  effected  a  revolution  also  against  New  York,  and 
established  the  independence  of  Vermont  herself.  I  think,  in- 
deed, that  at  this  day,  men  as  hardy,  brave,  and  heroic,  as  Ethan 
Allen  and  his  followers  —  if  there  be  such  —  would  pass  by  re- 
gions as  rugged  and  wild  as  of  old  these  must  have  been,  to  find, 
with  less  fatigue  and  danger,  easier  and  more  attractive  homes 
on  the  Mississippi  prairies,  or  on  the  golden  terraces  of  Califor- 
nia and  Oregon.  % 

Certainly  the  descendants  have  carried  on  with  perseverance 
and  success  the  enterprise  their  ancestors  so  bravely  began.  Their 
fields  are  clean,  and  a  stiff  stubble  shows  that  they  have  been 
covered  well  with  grain ;  their  pasturages  carefully  drained,  and 
trodden  by  sheep,  horses,  and  cattle  —  than  which  I  am  sure 
there  are  none  better;  their  villages  embellished  with  gardens, 
and  crowned  with  schools  and  colleges ;  and  their  statesmen  dis- 
charging useful  and  honorable  functions  in  the  national  councils 
and  in  foreign  courts.  I  can  not,  indeed,  suppress  repining  regret 
that  so  fair  a  portion  of  my  native  state  was  lost  for  ever  by  the 
obstinate  persistence  of  her  authorities  in  claims  which,  although 
based  on  royal  constitutions,  were  without  necessary  foundation 
in  equity.  Nevertheless,  looking  upon  the  scenes  that  stretch 
out  before  me,  as  we  may  suppose  an  Englishman,  who  loves  his 
native  land  well,  but  loves  freedom  and  humanity  still  better, 
may  look  upon  the  growing  greatness  and  spreading  dominion 
of  our  common  country,  I  say  again,  with  cheerfulness  and  en- 
thusiasm, hail  to  Vermont!  Her  independence  was  justly  and 
bravely  won.  She  has  chosen  a  peaceful  and  beneficent  mission, 
and  she  fulfils  it  faithfully  and  generously.  May  her  prosperity 
continue,  and  her  glory  increase  for  ever ! 

The  implements  of  rural  labor — the  peaceful  trophies  of  the 
field,  the  meadow,  and  the  mountain  —  the  sleek  and  graceful 

Vol.  III.  — 12 


178  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

herds  around  me,  bearing  witness  to  the  sagacious  guardianship 
of  the  farmer  —  call  me  away  from  the  contemplation  of  the  past, 
to  speak  of  the  present,  but  of  the  present  as  we  must  always 
speak  ot  it  when  regarding  it  philosophically,  only  as  it  bears 
upon  the  quickly-coming  and  forever-growing  future. 

To  improve  agriculture  is  wise,  for  all  the  reasons  commonly 
given,  and  for  one,  moreover,  that  is  perhaps  seldom  thought  of. 
As  is  the  culture  of  the  fields  and  flocks  in  any  community,  so  is 
always  the  culture  of  the  men  and  women  by  whom  it  is  be- 
stowed :  — 

"  Certemus,  spinas  animone  ego  fortius,  an  tu 
Eoellas  agro,  et  melior  sit  Horatius,  an  res"  — 

"  Let  us  inquire  if  you,  with  happier  toil, 
Root  out  the  thorns  and  thistles  of  the  soil, 
Than  Horace  tears  his  follies  from  his  breast, 
Whether  my  farm  or  I  be  cultured  best."* 

Leaving  to  others  better  qualified  to  indicate  the  best  practical 
measures  for  improving  your  farms,  your  horses,  and  your  sheep, 
I  shall  therefore  be  content  with  suggesting  how  the  American 
farmer  may  improve,  and  strengthen,  and  elevate  himself,  and 
the  higher  and  more  general  motives  which  should  urge  him 
forward  in  so  noble  an  emulation. 

It  is  essential  to  the  improvement  equally  of  farming  and  of 
the  farmer,  that  the  occupation  should  be  made  more  lucrative 
and  profitable.  All  profit  depends  on  the  cheapness  of  produc- 
tion, of  manufacture,  and  of  access  to  market.  It  is  the  office  of 
invention  to  substitute  mechanical  power  for  human  labor,  equally 
in  production  and  in  conveyance,  and  in  manufacture.  The  far- 
mer, then,  is  interested  not  merely  in  the  improvement  of  the 
axe,  the  plough,  the  harrow,  and  of  the  sowing,  cultivating,  mow- 
ing, reaping,  and  thrashing  machines,  but  also  in  the  perfecting 
of  the  mill,  the  gin,  the  brake,  the  spindle,  the  loom,  the  forge, 
the  steam-engine,  the  railroad  and  its  locomotive,  the  ship,  and 
even  the  magnetic  telegraph.  And  so  you  are  well  aware  that  a 
constant  and  uniform  relation  must  always  be  maintained  be- 
tween the  state  of  agriculture  (and,  indeed,  of  society  itself)  and 
the  cotemporaneous  state  of  invention  in  the  arts.  The  necessi- 
ties of  industry  in  every  department  sustain  and  stimulate  the 
activity  of  invention. 

*  Horace. 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  FARMS  AND  FARMER&  179 

If,  therefore,  you  would  have  invention  free,  bold,  persevering, 
and  comprehensive,  what  have  you  to  do  but  to  establish  and 
maintain  the  different  processes  of  manufacture,  as  well  as  the 
departments  of  agriculture  and  commerce  ?  For  nearly  twenty 
years,  and  until  a  twelvemonth  ago,  we  flattered  ourselves  with 
a  belief  that  we  equalled  —  if,  indeed,  we  did  not  excel  —  other 
nations  in  invention.  An  opportunity  then  came  to  test  the  bold 
pretension.  England,  in  a  generous  spirit,  invited  the  civilized 
states  of  the  world  to  assemble  under  an  edifice  which  she  had 
reared  for  their  reception,  which,  in  architectural  magnificence 
as  well  as  in  extent,  surpassed  the  Coliseum  of  ancient  Rome  — 
and  to  bring  together,  exhibit,  and  compare,  whatever  machines 
they  had  contrived  and  perfected  for  the  melioration  of  human 
labor  in  all  its  comprehensive  variety  of  application. 

Certainly  the  games  of  Greece,  the  triumphal  processions  of 
the  Caesars,  and  the  tournaments  of  Christian  and  Saracen  knights 
on  the  plains  of  Palestine,  fell  infinitely  short  of  the  panorama  of 
the  World's  Fair  in  moral  grandeur  and  heroic  achievement. 
You  all  remember  how  cheerfully — nay,  how  even  boldly  —  we 
accepted  the  challenge.  I  am  sure  also  that  you  can  not  have 
forgotten  the  mortification  we  endured  when  our  inventions,  hav- 
ing been  arranged  with  studied  care  to  expose  them  with  effect, 
their  limited  extent  and  narrow  variety  nevertheless  showed  us 
inferior  in  the  broad  range  of  invention  to  not  only  England,  but 
France,  Italy,  Prussia,  Austria,  and  even  semi-barbarian  Russia. 
True,  we  retrieved  at  the  end,  by  the  demonstrated  superiority 
of  a  lock  whose  mysterious  wards  baffled  the  skill  of  the  world's 
artisans;  of  St.  John's  adjustment  of  the  magnetic  needle,  so  as 
to  overcome  metallic  attraction ;  of  M'Cormick's  reaper,  which 
enhanced  by  a  twentieth  the  value  of  the  English  harvest ;  and 
of  Stevens's  yacht  and  our  East  India  clippers  on  the  element 
where  England  had  before  defied  competition. 

But  these  triumphs,  nevertheless,  only  indicated  our  genius  for 
invention,  while  they  left  undisturbed  the  distinct,  impressive, 
and  painful  fact,  that  it  was  inadequately  encouraged  and  but 
very  partially  exercised  among  us.  Thus  was  revealed  to  us  the 
reciprocating  cause  and  consequence  of  our  dependence  on  for- 
eign nations  so  largely  for  the  clothes  we  wear,  the  implements 
we  use  from  the  family  table,  through  the  woollen,  cotton,  and 
silk  manufactures,  up  to  the  philosophical  lecture-room,  and  for 


180  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

a  thousand  other  fabrics,  which,  in  so  high  and  luxuriant  a  state 
of  civilization,  we  employ  and  consume.  Happy  will  it  be  for 
us  if  the  instruction  shall  not  be  forgotten.  It  was  simply  this : 
We  had  failed  to  encourage  and  so  to  procure  the  establishment 
among  ourselves  of  the  manufacturing  processes  which  in  other 
countries  had  given  birth  to  those  manifold  inventions.  I  shall 
not  urge  here  the  common  arguments  for  the  institution  of  varied 
manufactures ;  but  it  is  germain  to  the  occasion  to  show  you  how 
what  is  called  an  application  of  free-trade  in  a  country  yet  unpre- 
pared for  it,  has  operated  to  fetter  and  bind  down  among  us  the 
highest  and  most  beneficent  faculty  of  the  human  mind  —  the- 
faculty  of  utilitarian  invention.  Here,  then,  is  a  national  loss, 
over  and  above,  and  indefinitely  exceeding,  all  the  waste  of 
freights,  commissions,  and  risks  incurred,  in  purchasing  in  distant 
markets  articles  which  abound  in  our  own  fields,  forests,  and 
mines,  with  the  further  waste  of  freights,  commissions,  and  risks, 
outward  and  inward,  on  the  transportation  of  our  own  abundant 
raw  materials  to  English  workshops,  and  on  their  reconveyance 
to  our  own  shores,  charged  with  the  cost  of  manufacture,  to  be 
paid  in  provisions  and  gold.  Beyond  and  above  all  these  losses, 
here  is  a  stinting  and  stifling  of  the  very  life  of  all  national  growth, 
development,  and  perfection.  Look,  then,  ye  true  men  of  Ver- 
mont, to  the  correction  of  this  great  national  fault,  as  you  value 
your  own  welfare  and  prosperity,  the  advancement  of  society,  and 
the  greatness,  power,  and  glory,  of  your  country. 

Who  does  not  desire  that  the  generation  to  which  he  belongs 
shall  be  wiser  and  greater  than  those  which  have  gone  before 
it?  Fellow-citizens,  if  you  would  thus  distinguish  the  generation 
to  which  you  belong,  of  which  you  are  a  part,  you  must  have  a 
wiser  and  more  enlightened  system  of  agriculture  than  that  of 
your  predecessors.  I  appeal  to  the  learned  men  whom  I  see 
around  me — is  the  science  of  agriculture  peculiarly  difficult  to 
explore  and  perfect  ?  Quite  the  contrary.  Chemistry,  mineral- 
ogy, botany,  and  physiology,  the  ancillary  sciences,  have  already 
given  up  the  secrets  of  the  composition  of  the  soil  and  of  the 
atmosphere,  and  the  laws  which  regulate  the  germination  and 
growth  of  vegetable  and  animal  organisms.  What  remains  seems 
to  be  little  more  than  the  reduction  of  truths  already  known  into 
methodical  forms,  for  the  purposes  of  instruction,  with  guides  to 
their  application  under  the  widely-varying  circumstances  of  soils, 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  FARMS  AND  FARMERS.  181 

-climates  and  seasons.  Notwithstanding  these  obvious  truths, 
and  notwithstanding  that  agriculture,  as  it  was  the  first,  has  also 
always  been  the  most  general  pursuit  of  civilized  men,  yet  it  is 
nevertheless  true  that  it  has  been,  more  than  all  other  sciences 
and  arts,  neglected.  Mankind  learned  the  motions  of  spheres 
lying  far  away  beyond  unaided  vision,  and  applied  the  discovery 
to  the  practical  purposes  of  geography  and  navigation ;  they  laid 
bare,  also,  the  subtlest  of  all  laws  —  the  laws  of  the  human  mind 
• — and  subjected  them  to  the  formation  of  systems  of  religion  and 
government ;  while  the  simple  processes  of  vegetable  organiza- 
tion and  development,  until  very  recently,  remained  altogether 
hidden  and  unknown.  Unhappily,  too,  what  has  been  at  last  ac- 
quired by  Philosophy,  still  remains  close  in  her  keeping.  The 
general  mind  has  not  received  it,  nor  sought  for  it,  nor  been  wil- 
ling to  accept  it.  We  generally  plough,  we  sow,  and  we  reap, 
not  with  enlightened  knowledge  of  the  processes  we  prosecute, 
but  by  habit,  and  with  a  blind  following  of  customs  established 
oefore  that  knowledge  had  been  gained.  We  suffer  disappoint- 
ments which  we  might  have  prevented,  and,  charging  the  misfor- 
tune to  accident  and  destiny,  we  perse veringly  renew  our  culture 
in  the  same — I  had  almost  said  wilful — ignorance,  and  at  the 
risk  of  the  same  ever-recurring  disasters. 

Permit  me  to  say  plainly  and  with  some  emphasis,  that  this 
indifference  to  agricultural  science  can  not  be  suffered  to  con- 
tinue. While  commerce,  aided  by  vigorous  and  well-sustained 
invention,  is  reducing  the  dangers  and  diminishing  the  cost  of 
navigation,  and  thus  bringing  the  similar  productions  of  various 
nations  into  competition  in  common  markets,  population  is  crowd- 
ing on  subsistence  in  many  countries,  so  rapidly  as  to  oblige  them 
to  study  intensely  how  to  increase  the  fruits  of  the  earth  which 
•constitute  that  subsistence.  The  statesmen  of  Great  Britain  and 
continental  Europe  have  already  employed  science  to  check  the 
tide  of  an  impoverishing  and  exhausting  emigration.  Even, 
therefore,  if  we  should  continue  to  neglect  agricultural  improve- 
ment, England,  Ireland,  France,  Spain,  Italy,  Germany,  and 
Bussia,  would  not.  They  must  improve,  are  improving,  and  will 
continue  to  improve,  agriculture;  and  if  we  neglect  to  follow  — 
-ay,  and  if  we  fail  to  keep  up  with  them  in  that  improvement, 
they  will  not  only  exclude  us  from  foreign  markets,  but  will  even 
ailtimately  undersell  us  in  our  own.     A  pretty  figure  we  should 


182  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

make  in  that  case.  This  is  what  they  are  already  doing  in  manu- 
factures, and  by  the  process  I  have  indicated. 

I  think  that  there  is  no  lack  of  schools  and  seminaries  and  pro- 
fessorships, adapted  and  qualified  for  advancing  and  disseminating 
agricultural  science.  Our  present  seminaries  and  the  teachers- 
of  natural  science  in  them,  are  quite  sufficient ;  and  text-books, 
guides  to  experiment,  and  laboratories,  are  not  wanting  in  the 
country.  What  then  is  wanting?  Only  pupils.  The  students 
in  all  our  seminaries,  intent  on  —  not  agricultural  pursuits,  but 
what  are  called  the  learned  or  liberal  professions — rush  by  the 
agricultural  chair,  to  attend  to  instructions  in  mathematics,  rhet- 
oric, and  classical  literature.  Certainly  the  professor  ceases  to 
explore  for  new  acquisitions,  when  no  one  will  listen  to  his  ex- 
positions of  what  he  already  has.  A  desire  to  communicate  to 
others,  is  always  combined  with  the  passion  for  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge. 

Why  then  are  there  no  pupils?  The  fault' — again  I  pray  you 
—  pardon  my  boldness  —  the  fault  is  chiefly  with  the  farmers 
themselves.  A  farm,  of  course,  is  necessary  to  him  who  is  to  be 
a  farmer.  Generally,  only  farmers'  sons  have  or  expect  farms, 
and  so  they  are  the  class  who  must  supply  the  candidates  for  the 
profession  of  farming.  But  the  farmers'  sons  are  generally  averse 
from  scientific  study.  There  is  a  general  prejudice  that  agricul- 
ture is  a  simple,  easy  art  or  trade,  which  can  be  taken  up  and 
practised  without  academic  instruction  or  systematical  appren- 
ticeship, and  that  theoretic  precepts  serve  only  to  mislead  and 
bewilder. 

On  the  contrary,  Nature  has  left  all  the  human  faculties  in  one 
sense  incomplete,  to  be  perfected  by  general  education  and  by 
training  for  special  and  distinct  pursuits.  She  has  left  those 
faculties  not  less  incomplete,  and  without  adaptation,  in  the 
farmers'  case  than  in  any  other.  Her  laws  are  general  and  in- 
flexible. Brutes  only  have  perfect  instincts.  Man  can  do  noth- 
ing well,  and  indeed  can  do  nothing  at  all,  but  by  the  guidance 
of  cultivated  reason.  Notwithstanding  admitted  differences  of 
natural  capacity,  and  of  tastes  and  inclinations,  it  is  nevertheless- 
practically  and  generally  true,  that  success,  and  even  distinction 
and  eminence,  in  any  vocation,  are  proportioned  to  the  measure- 
of  culture,  training,  industry,  and  perseverance  brought  into  ex- 
ercise.    So  he  will  be  the  best  farmer,  and  even  the  best  woods- 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  FARMS  AND  FARMERS.  183 

man  or  well-digger,  as  he  will  be  the  best  lawyer,  the  greatest 
hero,  or  the  greatest  statesman,  who  shall  have  studied  most 
widely  and  most  profoundly,  and  shall  have  labored  most  care- 
fully and  most  assiduously. 

There  is  another  prejudice  even  more  injurious  than  that  which 
I  have  thus  exposed.  The  farmer's  son  is  averse  from  the  farmer's 
calling.  He  does  not  intend  to  pursue  it,  and  is  always  looking 
for  some  gate  by  which  to  escape  from  it.  The  prejudice  is  he- 
reditary in  the  farm-house.  The  farmer  himself  is  not  content  with 
his  occupation  ;  nor  is  the  farmer's  wife  any  more  so.  They  re- 
gard it  as  an  humble,  laborious,  and  toilsome  one  ;  they  continu- 
ally fret  about  its  privations  and  hardships,  and  thus  they  uncon- 
sciously raise  in  their  children  a  disgust  toward  it.  Is  not  tin's 
at  least  frequently  so?  Is  there  a  farmer  here  who  does  not 
desire,  not  to  say  seek,  to  procure  for  his  son  a  cadet's  or  mid- 
shipman's warrant,  a  desk  in  the  village  lawyer's  office,  a  chair 
in  the  physician's  study,  or  a  place  behind  the  counter  in  the 
country  store,  in  preference  to  training  him  to  the  labors  of  the 
farm  ?  I  fear  that  there  is  scarcely  a  farmer's  son  who  would  not 
fly  to  accept  such  a  position,  or  a  farmer's  daughter  who  would 
not  prefer  almost  any  settlement  in  town  or  city,  to  the  domestic 
cares  of  the  farm-house  and  the  dairy. 

Whence  is  this  prejudice?  It  has  come  down  to  us  from  ages 
of  barbarism.  In  the  savage  state,  agricultural  labor  is  despised, 
because  bravery  in  battle,  and  skill  in  the  chase,  must  be  encour- 
aged ;  and  so  heroism  is  still  requisite  for  the  public  defence  in 
the  earlier  stages  of  civilization,  and  the  tiller  of  the  soil,  there- 
fore, rises  slowly  from  the  condition  of  a  villein,  a  serf,  or  a  slave. 
Nevertheless,  ancient,  and  almost  universal,  as  this  prejudice  is, 
I  am  sure  that  it  is  unnatural  to  mankind  in  ripened  civilization, 
such  as  that  at  which  we  have  arrived.  Of  all  classes  of  men,  we 
practically  have  the  least  need  of  hunters ;  and  we  employ  very- 
few  soldiers,  while  the  whole  structure  of  society  hinges  on  the 
agricultural  interest.  A  taste,  nay,  a  passion  for  agriculture,  is 
inherent  and  universal  among  men.  The  soldier  or  the  sailor 
cares  little  for  learning,  mechanism,  or  music  ;  but  the  solaces  of 
his  weary  watchings  and  his  midnight  dreams  are  recollections 
and  hopes  of  a  cottage-home.  The  merchant's  anxieties  and  the 
lawyer's  studies  are  prosecuted  patiently  for  the  ultimate  end  of 
graceful  repose  in  a  country-seat ;  and  lunatics,  men  and  women, 


184:  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

are  won  back  to  the  sway  of  reason  by  the  indulgence  of  labor 
in  the  harvest-field,  and  the  culture  of  fruits  and  flowers  in  the 
gardens  of  the  asylum. 

I  know  that  frivolous  persons,  in  what  is  called  fashionable 
society,  who  sleep  till  noon,  still  continue  to  depreciate  and  de- 
spise rural  pursuits  and  pleasures.  But  what  are  the  opinions 
of  such  minds  worth  ?  They  equally  depreciate  and  despise  all 
labor,  all  industry,  all  enterprise,  and  all  effort ;  and  they  reap 
their  just  reward  in  weariness  of  themselves,  and  in  the  contempt 
of  those  who  value  human  talents,  not  by  the  depth  in  which 
they  are  buried,  but  by  the  extent  of  their  employment  for  the 
benefit  of  mankind. 

The  prejudice,  however,  must  be  expelled  from  the  farmer's 
fireside :  and  the  farmer  and  his  wife  must  do  this  themselves. 
It  is  as  true  in  this  case  as  in  the  more  practical  one  which  the 
rustic  poet  had  in  view  :  — 

"The  wife  too  must  husband,  as  well  as  the  man; 
Or  farewell  thy  husbandry,  do  what  thou  can." 

Let  them  remember,  that,  in  well-constituted  and  highly-ad- 
vanced society  like  ours,  intellectual  cultivation  relieves  men 
from  labor,  but  it  does  not  at  all  exempt  them  from  the  practice 
of  industry ;  on  the  contrary,  it  obliges  the  universal  exercise 
of  industry ;  and  that,  notwithstanding  the  current  use  of  the 
figures  of  speech,  "  wearied  limbs,  sweating  brows,  hardened 
sinews,  and  rough  and  blackened  hands,"  there  is  uo  avocation 
in  our  country  that  rewards  so  liberally  with  health,  wealth,  and 
honor,  a  given  application  of  well-directed  industry,  as  does  that 
of  the  farmer.  If  he  is  surpassed  by  persons  in  other  pursuits, 
it  is  not  because  their  avocations  are  preferable  to  his  own,  but 
because,  while  he  has  neglected  education  and  training,  they 
have  taken  care  to  secure  both. 

When  these  convictions  shall  have  entered  the  farmhouse,  its 
respectability  and  dignity  will  be  confessed.  Its  occupants  will 
regard  their  dwellings  and  grounds,  not  as  scenes  of  irksome  and 
humiliating  labor,  but  as  their  own  permanent  home,  and  the 
homestead  of  their  children  and  their  posterity.  Affections  un- 
known before,  and  new-born  emulation,  will  suggest  motives  to 
improvement,  embellishment,  refinement,  with  the  introduction 
of  useful  and  elegant  studies  and  arts  which  will  render  the 
paternal  roof,  as  it  ought  to  be,  attractive  to  the  young,  and  the 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  FARMS  AND  FARMERS.  185 

farmer's  life  harmonious  to  their  tastes  and  satisfactory  to  their 
ambition.  Then  the  farmer's  sons  will  desire  and  demand  educa- 
tion as  liberal  as  that  now  chiefly  conferred .  on  candidates  for 
professional  life,  and  will  subject  themselves  to  discipline,  in 
acquiring  the  art  of  agriculture,  as  rigorous  as  that  endured  by 
those  who  apprentice  themselves  to  other  vocations. 

Then,  with  the  certain  improvement  of  agriculture,  we  shall 
have  the  improvement  and  elevation  of  the  agricultural  class  of 
American  society.  Have  you  considered  how  much  that  class 
renounce  in  denying  themselves  the  self-improvement  I  have 
urged?  Have  you  considered,  that  in  practice  they  widely 
renounce  the  functions  of  representation  in  the  conduct  of  the 
government  in  favor  of  other  classes,  no  more  privileged  than 
their  own?  This  is  unnecessary,  unwise,  unsafe ;  indeed,  it  is 
not  republican — it  is  not  American.  In  nearly  all  civilized 
states,  the  farmers,  or  those  who  cultivated  the  soil,  have  consti- 
tuted far  the  greater  part  of  the  population,  The  chief  control 
of  society  and  government,  then,  it  would  seem,  should  of 
right  have  been  vested  in  them.  Yet  in  truth,  they  have  never, 
since  the  age  of  the  patriarchs,  attained  any  such  control,  except 
just  here,  and  just  now.  In  Great  Britain  they  divide  authority, 
but  are  overbalanced  by  merchants,  manufacturers,  and  privi- 
leged classes.  Notwithstanding  modern  constitutional  conces- 
sions to  them  in  France,  they  are  nevertheless  ruled  there  alter- 
nately by  the  city  population  and  the  army.  In  Germany,  by 
the  army.  In  parts  of  Italy,  by  the  church;  and  in  Russia  they 
are  slaves. 

It  has  always  been  otherwise  here.  Farmers  planted  these 
colonies  —  all  of  them  —  and  organized  their  governments.  They 
were  farmers  who  defied  the  British  soldiery  on  Bunker  Hill  and 
drove  them  back  from  Lexington.  They  were  farmers  —  aye, 
Vermont  farmers,  who  captured  the  fortress  at  Ticonderoga,  and 
accepted  its  capitulation  in  the  name  of  the  "Great  Jehovah  and 
the  Continental  Congress,''  and  thus  gave  over  the  first  fortified 
post  to  the  cause  of  the  Revolution.  They  were  farmers  who 
checked  British  power  at  Saratoga,  and  broke  it  in  pieces  like  a 
potter's  vessel  at  Yorktown.  They  were  farmers  who  reorganized 
the  several  states  and  the  federal  government,  and  established 
them  all  on  the  principles  of  equality  and  affiliation.  In  every 
state,  and  in  the  whole  Union,  they  constitute  the  broad  electoral 


186  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

faculty,  and  by  their  preponderating  suffrages  the  vast  and  com- 
plex machine  is  perpetually  sustained  and  kept  in  regular  motion 
and  operation.  That  it  is  in  the  main  well  administered,  we  all 
know  by  experienced  security  and  happiness ;  that  it  might  be 
better  administered,  our  perpetual  and  intense  passion  for  change 
fully  proves ;  that  it  is  administered  no  better,  results  from  what  ? 
From  the  fact  that  the  electoral  body,  the  farmers,  intelligent 
and  patriotic  as  they  are,  may  nevertheless  become  more  intelli- 
gent and  more  patriotic  than  they  now  are.  The  more  intelligent 
and  patriotic  they  become,  the  more  effective  will  be  their  con- 
trol, and  the  wiser  their  direction  of  the  government.  Is  there 
not  room  %  Nay,  is  there  not  need  for  more  activity,  energy,  and 
efficiency,  on  their  part,  for  their  own  security  and  welfare  ?  In 
the  federal  government  commerce  has  its  minister  and  depart- 
ment, the  law  its  organ  and  representative,  and  the  arts  their 
commissioner  and  bureau.  But  the  vast  interest  of  agriculture 
has  only  a  single  desk  and  a  subordinate  clerk  in  the  basement 
of  the  patent-office.  It  is  scarcely  better  in  the  states.  An  empty 
charter  of  incorporation,  with  a  scanty  endowment,  constitutes 
substantially  all  that  has  been  anywhere  done  for  agriculture. 
Gentlemen,  I  like  not  that  it  should  be  so.  Our  nation  is  rolling 
forward  in  a  high  career,  exposed  to  shocks  and  dangers.  It 
needs  the  utmost  wisdom  and  virtue  to  guide  it  safely ;  it  needs 
the  steady  and  enlightened  direction  which,  of  all  others,  the 
farmers  of  the  United  States  can  best  exercise,  because,  being 
freeholders  invested  with  equal  power  of  suffrage,  they  are  at 
once  the  most  liberal  and  the  most  conservative  element  in  the 
country. 

Let  me  urge  this  duty  of  self-improvement  by  a  consideration 
of  the  nature  of  the  great  national  crisis  through  which  we  are 
passing.  One  word  describes  it — expansion.  Expansion  within 
our  borders,  to  people  and  organize  not  less  than  forty  states, 
each  as  great  and  populous  as  those  which  now  constitute  the 
Union — expansion  beyond  our  borders  to  bring  in  states  more 
numerous  than  one  dare  to  conjecture.  Do  you  question  the 
existence  of  this  crisis?  Recollect,  then,  how  soon  you  have 
become  familiar  with  the  yet  new  states  of  Wisconsin,  Iowa, 
Florida,  Texas,  and  California ;  and  how  fast  the  territorial  form 
of  government,  only  preliminary  to  that  of  new  states,  is  extended 
under  names  before  unknown,  in  Minnesota,  Oregon,  New  Mex- 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  FARMS  AND  FARMERS.  18T 

ico,  Utah,  and  Nebraska.  Do  you  doubt  the  tendency  of  expan- 
sion beyond  your  present  borders  ?  Only  sixty  years  ago,  all  our 
settlements  clustered  between  Cape  Ann  and  St.  Mary's  river  on 
the  Atlantic  coast.  Where  are  they  now?  On  the  east  and 
north,  they  overhang  the  Bay  of  Fundy  and  Lake  Superior ;  south- 
ward, they  stretch  away  quite  round  the  peninsula  of  Florida  to 
the  banks  of  the  Rio  Grande ;  on  the  west,  their  setting  sun  ex- 
tinguishes his  fires  in  the  waters  of  the  Pacific.  By  purchase 
and  conquest,  the  boundaries  of  the  republic  have  been  made  to 
advance  equally  with  this  gigantic  but  voluntary  expansion  of 
population.  And  are  we  now  content  ?  Not  at  all.  On  every 
side  there  are  signs  of  the  chafing  of  the  people  against  the  rigid 
and  unyielding  frontier.  What  do  these  controversies  with  the 
maritime  British  North  American  provinces  about  the  fisheries, 
and  with  the  inland  provinces  about  restraints  on  trade  indicate, 
but  discontent  ?  What  these  ill-suppressed  and  desperate  expe- 
ditions from  Louisiana  and  Florida  against  Cuba,  but  covetous- 
ness  of  the  sugar-plantations,  and  coffee-grounds  of  that  beautiful 
island.  What  this  new  and  ominous  diplomatic  controversy  with 
Mexico,  about  a  route  for  a  railroad  across  the  Isthmus  of  Tehu- 
antepec,  but  a  further  dismemberment,  if  not  a  complete  absorp- 
tion, of  that  prematurely-declining  republic?  And  lastly,  wlv°t 
these  explorations  and  expeditions  about  Japan,  and  the  Sandwicii 
islands,  but  the  necessity  of  naval  stations  in  the  Pacific  ocean  ? 
Mark,  also,  that  in  nearly  all  these  coveted  countries,  not  only  have 
the  principles  of  American  republicanism  worked  out  practically 
institutions  substantially  similar  to  our  own,  but  there  are  already 
organized  in  the  native  populations,  parties  strong  enough  when 
seconded  by  efforts  on  our  part,  to  deliver  them  into  our  hands. 
How  significant,  indeed,  are  the  facts  that  Great  Britain  has- 
practically  relinquished  government  in  the  provinces  adjacent  to 
us,  to  their  inhabitants,  and  that  simultaneously  with  the  fixed 
establishment  of  society  in  Australia,  indications  of  the  rise  of  a 
republic  appear?  It  is  happily  true  that,  these  desires  for  imme- 
diate annexation  of  adjacent  regions  are  local,  and  in  some  meas- 
ure what  we  call  sectional,  and  so  counteract  and  balance  each 
other ;  and  that  the  expanding  forces  are  also  further  modified 
by  conservative  apprehensions  widely  prevailing  in  the  country. 
Nevertheless,  these  are  only  checks  —  not  absolute  restraints. 
All  such  restraints  have  ultimately  given  way,  heretofore,  and 


188  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

must  do  so  sooner  or  later  hereafter.  Nor  may  it  be  believed 
that  any  American  colony,  planted  beyond  our  borders,  will  con- 
tentedly remain  without,  or  will,  with  the  national  consent,  be 
left  to  remain  independent  of  the  republic.  Experience  has 
taught  us  nothing  well,  if  it  has  not  taught  us  that,  wherever  the 
American  people  go,  they  will  draw  the  American  government 
over  them ;  wherever  an  American  colony  establishes  itself,  there 
the  American  people  will  extend  the  constitutional  roof  over 
them.  Indeed,  there  is  nothing  new  in  all  these  movements, 
neither  those  within  nor  those  across  the  national  borders.  Ex- 
pansion and  incorporation  were  laws  impressed  on  the  American 
people  two  hundred  years  ago,  and  they  yield  to  those  laws  now 
just  as  they  have  hitherto  done,  because  they  have  arisen  out  of 
circumstances  above  national  control,  and  are  inevitable.  Let 
me  not,  however,  be  misunderstood.  I  advocate  no  headlong 
progress,  counsel  no  precipitant  movement,  much  less  any  one 
involving  war,  violence,  or  injustice.  I  would  not  seize  with 
haste,  and  force  the  fruit,  which  ripening  in  time,  will  fall  of 
itself  into  our  hands.  But  I  know,  nevertheless,  that  the  stars 
will  come  out,  even  if  the  moon  delay  its  rising.  I  have  shown 
you  then  that  a  continent  is  to  be  peopled,  and  even  distant 
i elands  to  be  colonized  by  us. 

These  grand  movements  will  draw  largely  on  the  moral,  social, 
intellectual,  and  political  resources  of  the  existing  states.  Other 
countries  and  other  continents  will,  as  they  have  done  hitherto, 
contribute  great  and  rapid  emigrations ;  but  the  elements  of 
American  society,  the  two  elements  of  the  federative  republican 
system  of  government,  will  be  derived  from  the  agricultural 
population  of  the  established  states  already  within  the  Union, 
Such  supplies  can  not  be  adequately  furnished,  unless  the  resid- 
uary forces  be  perpetually  renewed  and  invigorated.  If  they  be 
not  adequately  supplied,  so  as  to  sustain  not  merely  a  pervading 
community  of  interests,  but  even  a  thorough  homogeneousness 
of  national  character,  sentiments,  and  sympathies,  political, 
moral,  social,  and  religious,  then  expansion,  instead  of  proving  a 
means  of  union  and  aggrandizement,  will  prove  the  cause  of  dis- 
union and  decline.  Confessedly  we  have  signs,  though  not 
alarming  ones,  of  disunion  now.  They  appear  in  southern 
states ;  iu  the  organization  of  an  isolated,  peculiar,  hostile  colony 
in  the  valley  of  the  Salt  lake ;  and  they  appear,  also,  in  the  res- 


IMPROVEMENT  OF  FARMS  AND  FARMERS.  189 

tiveness  of  a  state  on  the  Pacific,  only  three  years  old,  under  the 
supposed  neglect,  or  disregard  of  her  interests,  by  the  federal 
government,  which  is  now  no  longer  a  central  one.  In  every 
case  you  see  that  the  cause  is  the  same — the  absence  of  entire 
and  perfect  assimilation.  How  shall  such  assimilation  be  ef- 
fected and  maintained?  The  answer  is  simple,  obvious,  and 
practical.  The  tree,  whose  branches  thus  continually  multiply 
and  spread,  and  which,  even  now,  covers  nearly  all  of  the  regions 
of  the  continent  lying  within  the  temperate  zone,  and  casts  its 
shadow  over  distant  islands,  stands  here,  and  we  tread  upon  the 
very  earth  out  of  which  the  majestic  trunk  has  risen.  If  we 
would  cherish  and  preserve  it,  we  must  continually  loosen  the 
soil,  and  supply  new  streams  of  its  native  and  accustomed  mois- 
ture. While  it  is  thus  manifest  that  the  responsibility  for  the 
preservation  of  our  own  necessary  power  and  influence,  and  even 
of  the  preservation  of  the  republic  itself,  rests  chiefly  on  the 
agricultural  population  of  the  established  states,  and  that  respon- 
sibility involves  a  demand  for  improvement,  progress,  and  eleva- 
tion on  their  part,  it  is  scarcely  less  apparent  that,  indirectly,  by 
the  influence  of  our  tone  and  example,  and  directly  by  our  grow- 
ing connections  with  other  nations,  we  must  either  check  or 
accelerate,  the  movement  of  universal  human  society.  We  hear 
the  almost  stifled  utterance  of  its  aspirations ;  we  see  its  often 
convulsive  struggles ;  we  sigh  over  its  frequent  reactions  and 
disappointments,  and  so  we  learn  and  know  that  its  tendency  is 
toward  freedom,  self-government,  peace,  and  ultimate  brother- 
hood. How  necessary  is  it  that  every  action  of  our  government 
should  be  such  as  at  least  to  encourage,  if  it  do  not  aid,  the 
attainment  of  desires  and  hopes  so  natural,  so  necessary,  so  just, 
and  so  beneficent.  But  how  can  the  corporate  action  of  a  nation 
—  especially  of  a  republic — be  wiser,  better,  or  more  beneficent, 
than  the  temper  and  dispositions  of  the  people  who  constitute  the 
republic  ?  The  flowing  stream  always  declines  from  the  level  of 
the  fountain.  Did  you  experience  disappointment,  mortification y 
and  shame,  when  the  great  and  good  Kossuth,  whom  the  nation 
welcomed  as  the  overborne  champion  of  liberty  in  Europe,  was 
dismissed  with  coldness,  neglect,  and  contumely,  because  he 
avowed  that  he  had  resolved  to  renew  the  lost  conflict  ?  I  know 
you  did ;  but  where  was  the  fault,  the  crime  ?  It  was  the  fault 
and  the  crime  of  the  people,  that  they  had  not,  with  sufficient 


190  ORATIONS  AND  DISCOURSES. 

earnestness  and  unanimity,  adopted  the  principles  of  the  unity 
of  the  human  family  and  the  indivisibility  of  their  destiny.  So 
unwavering  are  the  laws  of  Providence  which  punish  human 
vices,  and  reward  human  virtues,  that  every  vice  indulged,  and 
every  crime  committed,  not  only  brings  danger  and  suffering 
upon  the  delinquent,  but  works  an  injury  to  his  country  and  his 
race ;  while  every  virtue  practised,  and  every  generous  effort 
made  for  even  self-improvement  and  elevation,  is  followed  by 
personal  advantages  not  only,  but  by  benefits,  to  society,  and  to 
mankind. 

Farmers,  friends,  citizens,  we  are  young  in  the  old  age  of  time ; 
green  amid  the  sere  and  falling  leaves  of  ancient  civilization. 
Let  us  cultivate  and  improve  ourselves,  and  so  save  and  impart  to 
the  world  the  elements  of  a  new  and  happy  renovation. 


OCCASIONAL 


SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES, 


VV        OF   THE  ''      \ 

OCCASIONAL 
SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES, 


THE  UNIOK 

AUBURN,   JULY  4,    1825. 


To  one  who  has  not  been  a  witness  of  the  progress  of  the  im- 
provements in  the  condition  of  our  country  since  the  Revolution, 
they  must  seem  like  the  work  of  enchantment.  We  are  estab- 
lished here  at  a  vast  distance  beyond  where  the  most  visionary 
enthusiast  of  that  time  had  placed  the  confines  of  civilization  for 
a  century  to  come.  Cities  and  villages  have  grown  up  and  are 
flourishing  in  vigorous  maturity  where  the  Indian  hunter  forty 
years  ago  roamed  in  idle  security  in  the  native  forest.  Steam- 
boats and  ships  are  seen  now  bearing  the  commerce  of  a  great 
inland  country  upon  lakes  which  thirty  years  ago  had  never 
borne  any  vessel  but  the  bark  canoe.  Canals  are  seen  winding 
through  the  vales,  and  roads  crossing  the  mountains  in  every 
direction,  where  civilized  man  at  that  time  had  never  wandered. 

The  operations  of  agriculture,  commerce,  and  manufactures, 
are  going  successively  forward,  and,  in  the  words  of  the  venera- 
ble guest  of  the  nation*  at  the  table  which  your  hospitality  lately 
spread  for  him  at  this  place  (for  each  of  his  words  is  a  legacy  to 
this  people),  "  more  and  more  giving  a  splendid  lie  to  the  enemies 
of  freedom  and  self-government." 

*  La  Fayette. 

Yol.  HI— 13 


194  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

And  while,  on  this  occasion,  we  dwell  upon  the  glorious  events 
of  our  past  history,  and  our  present  happy  situation,  we  can  not 
leave  the  theme  without  one  glance  into  futurity,  to  inquire  into 
the  probable  duration  of  these  institutions. 

Party-spirit,  it  was  once  said,  would,  before  a  half-century 
should  have  elapsed,  have  severed  this  Union.  It  has,  indeed, 
raged  wTith  its  utmost  possible  violence.  At  the  reorganization 
of  the  government,  two  parties  arose,  differing  widely  upon  car- 
dinal principles,  nearly  equal  in  numbers,  and  each  ranking 
among  its  members  men  of  stupendous  and  energetic  minds,  and 
of  tried  bravery  and  patriotism.  And,  as  if  the  confusion  of  the 
moral  world  were  added  to  endanger  the  untried  bark  just  com- 
mitted to  the  waves,  the  French  Revolution  and  a  war  with  Great 
Britain  mingled  their  excitements  with  the  already  exasperated 
feelings  of  the  partisans.  Through  all  this  excitement  and  through 
all  these  dangers  our  country  nevertheless  kept  on  her  career  of 
glory.  The  virulence  of  the  parties  has  ceased ;  the  one  has  for- 
gotten its  triumph,  and  the  other  its  fall ;  and  good  men  of  both 
parties  are  burning  their  animosities  on  the  altar  of  the  common 
g;ood. 

Men  who  are  determined  to  see  a  separation  of  the  Union  have 
.argued  it  from  analogy  to  the  ancient  republics ;  but  let  it  be 
remembered  that  the  analogy  is  in  name  only  —  that  the  govern- 
ment in  no  other  way  resembles  the  stormy  democracies  of  Greece, 
or  that  ill-balanced  government,  the  republic  of  Rome. 

It  was  early  predicted  that  the  government  we  have  established 
was  not  calculated  for  so  extensive  a  territory.  Yet  our  limits 
have  been  extended  till  they  now  reach  from  the  lakes  to  the 
gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  ocean  to  ocean ;  and  there  has  in  no 
case  been  a  want  of  legislative  care  or  executive  protection  in 
any  part  of  the  territory. 

How  often  have  these  prophets  of  evil  predicted — when  some 
important  question  has  been  agitated  in  Congress,  bearing  une- 
qually upon  the  northern  and  southern  states  —  that  a  separation 
would  take  place  between  them !  Yet  the  Missouri  question  is 
settled,  and  almost  forgotten ;  the  tariff"  bill  has  become  a  law ; 
the  sceptre  has  passed  from  the  Ancient  Dominion,  and  the  union 
of  these  states  is  still  unshaken.  Believe  me,  fellow-citizens, 
those  men's  wishes  for  confusion  far  outrun  their  wisdom  who  be- 
lieve or  profess  to  believe  that  parties  upon  cardinal  principles 


THE  UNION.  195 

■will  again  arise.  The  time  and  the  occasion  for  these  parties 
have  alike  gone  by,  and  the  attempt  to  rouse  the  vindictive  feel- 
ings of  those  which  once  existed,  is  as  idle  as  the  hope  to  "  call 
a  spirit  from  the  vasty  deep."  New  parties  are  yearly  formed, 
and  as  often  dissolved,  because  they  arise  upon  questions  of  lim- 
ited extent,  or  out  of  regard  to  men  of  differently-estimated  merit. 
And  such  parties  will  succeed  each  other,  '*as  in  rolling  seas 
wave  succeeds  wave  ;"  but  there  will  at  times  be  a  calm,  and  such 
light  and  transitory  excitements  will  only  serve  to  keep  the  po- 
litical waters  in  healthful  motion. 

Those,  too,  misapprehend  either  the  true  interests  of  the  people 
of  these  states,  or  their  intelligence,  who  believe  or  profess  to 
believe  that  a  separation  will  ever  take  place  between  the  north 
-and  south.  The  people  of  the  north  have  been  seldom  suspected 
•of  a  want  of  attachment  to  the  Union,  and  those  of  the  south  have 
been  much  misrepresented  by  a  few  politicians  of  a  stormy  char- 
acter, who  have  ever  been  unsupported  by  the  people  there.  The 
north  will  not  willingly  give  up  the  power  they  now  have  in  the 
national  councils,  of  gradually  completing  a  work  in  which,  wheth- 
er united  or  separate,  from  proximity  of  territory,  we  shall  ever 
be  interested  —  the  emancipation  of  slaves.  And  the  south  will 
never,  in  a  moment  of  resentment,  expose  themselves  to  a  war 
with  the  north,  while  they  have  such  a  great  domestic  population 
of  slaves,  ready  to  embrace  any  opportunity  to  assert  their  free- 
dom and  inflict  their  revenge.  And  very  much  does  that  mis- 
guided man,  the  governor  of  Georgia,  misapprehend  the  wishes 
of  his  constituents  and  southern  neighbors,  when  he  invites  them 
to  raise  the  standard  of  civil  war  for  no  other  reason  than  because 
the  general  government  is  suspected  of  wishing  to  contribute  to 
the  melioration  of  slavery,  and  of  being  unwilling  to  give  up  the 
lives  and  lands  of  a  few  Indians  to  some  brutal  speculators,  in 
violation  of  solemn  treaties  and  of  the  laws  of  humanity. 

If,  indeed,  these  states  were  to  be  divided  by  a  geographical 
line,  that  line  would  be  drawn  along  the  Allegany  mountains,  or 
the  Mississippi  river.  For  the  north  and  the  south  will  soon  for- 
get all  animosities  in  the  necessity  of  holding  the  balance  of 
power  against  the  young  and  growing  west ;  and  successive  po- 
litical controversies  have  proved  that  the  sympathies  of  the  west 
are  not  exclusively  with  the  north  or  the  south.  A  separation 
between  the  eastern  and  western  states  is  the  most  distant  of  all 


196  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

evils.  The  eastern  states  will  not  soon  be  willing  to  lose  the  ad- 
vantage of  western  commerce,  and  expose  their  frontiers  to  so 
hardy  and  numerous  an  enemy  as  the  militia  of  the  west  were 
proved  in  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain ;  and  still  less  will  the 
western  states  be  willing  to  give  up  the  great  revenue  of  eastern 
commerce,  and,  without  a  seaport,  expose  themselves  in  a  con- 
test with  a  nation  whose  naval  power  would  ever  be  augmenta- 
ble  at  pleasure. 

But  there  is  one  ground  of  security  which  I  have  not  men- 
tioned. It  is  that  the  ashes  of  Washington  rest  in  this  land,  and 
from  the  silence  of  his  tomb  there  comes  a  voice  which  com- 
mands his  children  to  be  united  and  invincible. 

In  truth,  fellow-citizens,  time  has  but  added  firmness  and  sta- 
bility to  our  institutions.  It  is  the  decay  of  our  republican  vir- 
tue alone  which  can  shake  them.  Let  us,  then,  remember  that 
to  us  it  is  given  to  preserve  the  Union  of  these  states  —  the  ark 
of  safety  in  which  are  deposited  the  hopes  of  the  world.  If  we 
preserve  it,  it  will  bring  down  blessings  upon  us  and  our  poster- 
ity. We  shall  inherit  glory  more  imperishable  than  Grecian  or 
Roman  fame,  and  shall  leave  to  the  world  a  legacy  more  valuable 
than  aught  but  the  treasures  of  inspiration.  Abandon  it,  and  the 
desolation  of  tyranny  will  cover  these  lovely  plains ;  the  curses 
of  posterity  will  fall  upon  us,  and  the  last  experiment  thus  ended : 
for  man  there  will  be  no  political  redemption  till  the  last  trumpet 
shall  sound,  to  call  the  nations  to  their  dread  account ! 


FOR  GREECE.  19T 


FOE  GEEECE. 

AUBURN,   FEBRUARY   26,    182'7. 

When  that  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  Greeks,  which  was  hereto- 
fore made  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  was  so  generously 
answered,  it  was  confidently  hoped  that,  long  before  this  time, 
the  liberty  of  Greece  would  have  been  established,  and  that  peace 
and  happiness  would  have  been  restored  within  her  borders.  But 
those  hopes  have  failed.  The  war  of  desolation  waged  by  her 
oppressors,  though  resisted  by  her  sons  with  a  degree  of  devotion 
and  heroism  which  prove  them  not  unworthy  of  their  ancestors 
in  the  better  days  of  Greece,  has  left  the  land  in  a  state  of  wretch- 
edness unparalleled  by  human  suffering,  and  beyond  the  power 
of  language  to  describe  or  the  reach  of  imagination  to  conceive. 
The  fortress  of  Missolonghi,  which  so  long  resisted  the  power  of 
the  Turks,  in  which  centred  all  the  hopes,  and  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  which  arose  all  the  prayers  of  the  Greeks,  has  yielded. 
The  greater  part  of  its  brave  defenders  were  murdered,  with  all 
the  female  captives  and  children,  save  those  few  whom  the  cu- 
pidity of  the  conquerors  reserved  for  a  slavery  more  dreadful 
than  death. 

Though  much  of  the  naval  force  of  Greece  has  escaped  the 
general  destruction,  and  the  survivors  of  her  armies  still  occupy 
a  few  fortresses,  as  yet  impregnable  by  the  enemy  ;  yet  through- 
out almost  the  whole  of  the  beautiful  territory  and  islands,  the 
vassals  of  Mohammedan  power  now  meet  with  no  living  enemy, 
.as  they  roam  in  savage  exultation  over  fields  laid  bare  and  deso- 
late, the  ashes  of  cities,  villages,  churches,  hamlets,  and  dwellings, 
and  the  unburied  bodies  of  massacred  men,  women,  and  children. 
The  bleeding  heads  of  the  bravest  defenders  of  Greece  are  posted 
on  the  gates  of  the  Turkish  fortresses,  to  excite  the  fury  of  the 
Saracen  mob,  and  the  fairest  of  her  daughters  are  sold  into  the 
harems  of  the  mussulmans.  The  remnants  of  her  population  have 
-escaped  to  the  mountains  ;  and  there  —  subsisting  upon  the  scanty 


198  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

fruits  of  the  woods,  and  the  precarious  means  afforded  by  the  oc- 
casional advantages  they  gain  in  descents  upon  their  enemies — • 
they  are  resolved  to  remain  until  death  shall  save  them  from  the 
fate  of  their  brethren,  or  until  relief  shall  reach  them,  and  they 
shall  be  able  to  descend  from  their  fastnesses  and  sweep  their 
oppressors  from  the  soil  which  covers  the  ashes  of  their  fathers. 

It  is  for  these  wretched  fugitives  that  I  pray  your  charity.  Let 
me  not  be  told  that  it  is  better  they  should  submit.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  Scio  submitted,  upon  receiving  an  assurance  that  they 
should  be  spared :  they  submitted,  and  the  treacherous  enemy 
immediately  began  an  indiscriminate  slaughter,  which  left  not  a 
living  Greek  upon  that  once-blissful  island!  The  Greeks  war 
with  an  enemy  who  has  sworn  their  extermination:  how  dread- 
fully that  oath  would  be  kept  in  the  case  of  the  submission  of  the 
wretched  remnant  of  the  nation,  its  fulfilment  thus  far  may  prove. 
There  is,  then,  no  resting-place  for  them,  between  that  liberty  for 
which  they  have  fought,  and  the  same  destruction  which  has 
already  fallen  upon  their  brethren.  And  may  we  not  hope  that 
it  is  not  ordered  that  they  shall  submit — that  assistance  will  be 
sent  them  —  and  that,  as  it  has  always  been,  so  in  this  case  it  will 
be,  that  — 

"Freedom's  battle,  once  begun, 
Bequeathed  from  bleeding  sire  to  son, 
Though  baffled  oft,  is  always  won  I" 

I  ask  not,  fellow-citizens,  for  arms  and  munitions  of  war,  or  the 
means  to  procure  them.  The  necessity  for  these  has  given  way 
to  the  more  dreadful  necessity  for  the  means  of  subsistence.  I 
ask  now  only  provisions  and  clothing,  or  the  money  to  purchase 
them,  because  these  are  all  which  will  be  of  service  to  the  Greeks. 
To  them  there  are  now  neither  flocks  nor  herds,  neither  seed- 
time, nor  harvest,  nor  vintage.  Their  appeal  is  made  to  a  people 
abounding  with  all  the  necessaries  and  luxuries  of  life.  How 
small  is  the  relief  required,  and  how  cheaply  can  it  be  granted  t 
We  are  a  free  people,  the  only  one  enjoying  unmolested  rational 
and  religious  liberty  ;  and  the  sympathy  of  every  lover  of  freedom 
throughout  the  world  must  be  accorded  to  this  remnant  of  that' 
nation  in  which  liberty  was  cradled,  suffering  now  the  extremity 
of  human  misery  for  no  other  crime  or  fault  than  having  bravely 
fought  for  that  liberty  without  which  we  consider  life  itself  not 
worth  possessing.     We  are  an  enlightened  people ;  and  shall  we- 


FOR  GREECE.  199 

withhold  our  charity  from  the  descendants  of  that  illustrious  race 
from  whom  we  have  derived  so  much  of  all  that  is  wise  in  gov- 
ernment, profound  in  science,  ennobling  in  philosophy,  useful  in 
arts,  and  delightful  in  song?  But,  above  all,  we  are  a  Christian 
nation  :  shall  we  discharge  our  duties  to  Him  through  whose  good 
providence  we  are  so,  if  we  withhold  so  small  a  charity  from  that 
land  where,  by  the  express  command  of  our  Savior,  the  gospel 
was  first  made  known  unto  the  Gentiles  —  that  land  which, 
through  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years,  amid  the  persecu- 
tions of  paganism  and  Mohammedanism,  has  held  fast  to  that 
common  faith  in  which  we  place  our  hopes  —  that  religion  which, 
while  it  enjoins  "faith,  hope,  and  charity,  these  three,"  declares  also 
that  "  the  greatest  of  these  is  charity"  ?  No,  fellow-citizens,  this 
is  an  occasion  in  which  our  charity  is  alike  called  forth  by  all  the 
generous  feelings  of  our  nature,  and  commanded  by  our  religion. 
We  had  the  gratifying  acknowledgment  that  our  former  dona- 
tions were  received,  and  were  of  great  and  essential  benefit,  al- 
though they  were  insufficient  to  avert  the  calamities  which  then 
hung  over  Greece.  Let  us  now  make  one  more  generous  contri- 
bution ;  and  let  us  indulge  the  hope  that,  while  we  exhibit  to  the 
world  the  interesting  spectacle  of  this  great,  free,  and  Christian 
nation,  sending  its  ships  bearing  relief  to  the  immediate  suffer- 
ings of  Greece,  these  offerings  may  be  among  the  means  which 
will  be  sanctified  by  that  Power  in  whose  hands  are  the  destinies 
of  nations,  for  her  emancipation. 


200  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


PATKIOTISM. 

SYRACUSE,   JULY  4,    18  31. 

Among  civilized  men,  the  love  of  country  is  principally  affected 
by  moral  influences,  and  by  no  other  moral  influence  so  greatly 
as  that  of  the  love  of  freedom.  Though  nature  and  reason  teach  all 
men  that  liberty  and  equality  are  inalienable  rights,  yet  the  com- 
forts and  security  of  social  life,  have  most  frequently  been  pur- 
chased by  the  almost  absolute  surrender  of  native  independence. 
The  inhabitant  of  almost  every  civilized  land  under  the  sun,  hath 
found,  so  soon  as  he  came  to  the  age  of  moral  responsibility,  that 
he  was  the  subject  of  despotism  over  mind  and  person,  so  long 
and  so  closely  riveted  upon  his  country,  that  he  has  deemed  all 
exertions  hopeless,  and  has  thenceforth  gone  on,  as  his  forefathers 
had  done  before  him,  despairing  of  emancipation  from  the  hour 
when  he  first  felt  the  pressure,  until  he  sunk  into  the  dust 
whence  he  sprung,  leaving  the  memory  of  his  own  sufferings  to 
swell  the  aggregate  of  his  country's  wrongs.  The  impulses  of  a 
heart,  beating  with  aspirations  for  freedom,  are  continually  wear- 
ing away  the  ties  which  bind  man  to  an  enslaved  soil.  Another 
land  may  be  dear  to  him,  because  it  contains  the  spot  where  he 
was  born,  the  home  of  his  childhood,  the  haunts  of  his  youth,  the 
field  of  his  labors,  the  graves  of  those  whose  memory  he  loves 
and  venerates ;  but  that  land  which  he  most  loves,  is  the  land 
where  his  limbs  are  unshackled,  and  his  soul  is  free. 

Americans  have  been  often  accused  of  an  exaggerated  estima- 
tion of  their  country  and  its  institutions ;  and  it  is  said  that  on 
festive  occasions  like  the  present,  this  weakness  of  national  char- 
acter is  conspicuously  displayed ;  but  if  I  have  correctly  stated 
the  influences  by  which  the  love  of  country  is  governed,  and  if 
liberty  be  justly  esteemed  the  most  invaluable  right  of  man,  and 
boon  of  Heaven,  then  who  shall  condemn  the  citizen  of  this  re- 
public for  glorying  in  his  native  land?     Whoever  will  study  the 


PATRIOTISM.  201 

character  of  the  earliest  immigrants  to  this  country,  will  find  that 
they  were  all  alike  unquiet  under  ecclesiastical  and  civil  abridg- 
ment of  their  rights,  he  will  find  the  same  indomitable  love  of 
liberty  among  the  Episcopalian  adventurers  on  the  Roanoke,  the 
Puritans,  who,  in  the  fear  of  God,  established  their  congregation 
upon  the  rock  of  Plymouth,  the  Quakers  on  the  Schuylkill,  the 
Catholics  on  the  Susquehannah,  the  Netherlanders  on  the  Hud- 
son, the  Germans  on  the  Lehigh,  and  the  Swedes  and  Fins  at 
Cape  Henlopen.  He  will  be  ready  to  say,  that  God  in  his  prov- 
idence, seems  to  have  collected  from  the  nations  of  Europe,  men 
of  sturdy  limbs,  free  minds,  and  bold  hearts,  to  lay  broad  and 
deep  the  foundations  of  a  state,  which  for  the  benefit  of  the  hu- 
man race,  was  to  prove,  under  the  most  propitious  circumstances, 
the  experiment  of  a  popular  representative  government.  More 
elevated,  more  enlightened,  and  no  less  ardent  devotion  to  lib- 
erty, distinguished  the  actors  in  the  heroic  struggle  by  which  the 
-colonial  relation  to  Great  Britain  was  severed.  Degenerate  de- 
scendants of  such  ancestors  should  we  indeed  be,  did  we  not  value 
above  all  other  blessings  the  boon  of  liberty  —  above  all  other 
distinctions,  that  of  self-government. 

The  charge  to  which  I  have  referred  has  been  made  almost 
solely  by  English  writers  and  tourists  ;  but  has  been  so  often  and 
so  pertinaciously  urged  by  them,  and  withal  has  found  so  much 
favor  among  their  countrymen,  as  to  warrant  us  in  regarding  it 
as  the  expression  of  the  English  people.  We  reverence  the  con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  British  nation,  as  the  model  of  our  own  ; 
we  love  its  fame,  and  claim  to  participate  in  it  as  a  common  in- 
heritance. Its  enterprise  in  commerce,  its  discoveries  in  science, 
and  skill  in  the  arts,  we  in  common  with  the  benefited  world  ac- 
knowledge ;  but  if  Englishmen  accuse  us  of  national  vanity,  may 
we  not  thus  reply  to  them  :  — 

'If  you  rejoice  in  the  immunity  of  your  persons  from  arbitrary 
arrest,  and  of  your  houses  from  unlawful  search,  secured  by  the 
•check  of  your  commons  upon  your  hereditary  king  and  aristoc- 
racy, may  not  we  rejoice  in  the  same  immunity,  guarantied  to  us 
by  a  government,  every  department  of  which  proceeds  from  our 
choice,  and  is  directly  responsible  to  our  will?  If  the  English 
husbandmen  have  reason  to  be  content  with  the  certainty  of  a 
sufficient  return  from  the  soil  for  the  necessaries  and  comforts  of 
life,  though  the  first  and  best  fruits  of  the  year  go  to  swell  the 


202  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

riches  or  feed  the  luxury  of  landlords,  have  the  farmers  of  Onon- 
daga no  reason  to  be  grateful  that  a  sky  no  less  benignant,  a  soil 
no  less  fertile  is  theirs,  and  that  the  land  which  they  till  is  their 
own,  with  all  its  fullness?  If  you  have  reason  to  boast  of  the 
freedom  of  your  religious  belief  and  worship,  though  it  is  pur- 
chased by  a  tithe  of  your  income,  have  we  no  reason  to  boast 
of  our  unbounded  and  untithed  liberty  of  conscience  ?  If  you 
proudly  say  that,  standing  before  the  English  law,  the  humblest 
Englishman  is  equal  to  the  proudest  peer  in  the  realm,  may  not 
we  as  proudly  assert  that  here,  with  laws  as  equal,  courts  as 
learned,  and  juries  as  intelligent,  all  men  are  peers  ?  If  you  claim 
the  world's  homage  for  the  discoveries  of  your  countrymen  in  the 
sciences  and  arts  (and  they  have  outstripped  the  world  beside), 
though  those  discoveries  illumine  the  walks  of  a  favored  part  of 
your  people  only,  do  you  find  nothing  worthy  of  admiration  in  a 
country  where  universal  education  enables  every  man  to  under- 
stand the  constitution,  laws,  interests,  and  relations  of  the  state, 
and  subjects  the  sciences  and  arts  to  the  practical  use  of  all  classes 
of  citizens  ?  If  you  glory  in  the  renown  of  your  military  achieve- 
ments, though  your  own  land  and  foreign  lands  have  been  often 
flowed  by  English  blood  unprofitably  shed,  may  not  we  glory 
that,  while  the  force  of  our  arms  has  been  acknowledged  even  by 
yourselves,  no  drop  of  American  blood  was  ever  spilled  in  wai 
waged  for  other  cause  than  for  freedom's  sake  ?  If  you  boast  ot 
commercial  and  agricultural  prosperity,  though  your  statesmen 
are  employed  in  devising,  by  taxation  least  tending  to  produce 
insurrection,  how  to  pay  the  interest  of  your  national  debt,  must 
we  confess  ourselves  destitute  of  wealth  and  enterprise,  while  our 
statesmen  are  discussing  the  question  how  to  distribute  the  sur- 
plus funds  of  a  treasury  into  which  a  stream  hath  scarcely  ever 
flowed  from  direct  taxation  ?  If  you  claim  the  blessings  of  Chris- 
tendom for  the  emancipation  of  the  church  from  papal  dominion, 
have  we  no  claim  to  your  respect  for  the  practical  demonstration 
to  the  world  that  religion  best  flourishes  where  the  hierarchy  is 
severed  from  the  civil  authority  ?  If  you  magnify  the  valor  of 
your  ancient  barons  who  extorted  Magna  Charta  from  King  John, 
read  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence,  and  say,  were 
they  a  servile  race  who,  "  with  war  in  each  breast  and  freedom 
on  each  brow,"  wrung  the  treaty  of  recognition  from  the  reluctant 
hand  of  George  III.  ?     Do  you  boast  of  British  enterprise  ?    Sur- 


PATRIOTISM.  20£ 

vey,  then,  this  land,  from  the  northern  lakes  to  the  southern  gulfs 
—  from  where  the  Hudson  yields  up  the  superabundant  fruits  of 
the  soil  to  where  the  Columbia  brings  the  furs  from  its  deep  for- 
ests ;  ask  the  number  of  its  population  ;  count  its  cities,  towns,  and 
villages,  its  canals  and  mines ;  view  the  cattle  upon  its  thousand 
hills,  and  the  grain  upon  its  ten  thousand  plains  —  and  say,  have 
the  few  adventurers  and  their  descendants,  who  in  two  hundred 
years  have  wrought  this  magic  change  in  the  wilderness,  degen- 
erated from  the  standard  of  the  people  who  in  ten  centuries  have 
subjected  Scotland,  Ireland,  Wales,  Sodor,  Jersey,  and  Man — • 
have  established  St.  George's  victorious  cross  in  Northern  Amer- 
ica and  the  two  Indies  —  have  made  London  the  queen  of  citiesr 
and  England  the  bulwark  of  freedom  throughout  Europe  V 

Fellow-citizens,  there  is  no  danger  of  exaggerating  the  praise 
of  our  country.  In  the  enjoyment  of  blessings,  nations  as  well 
as  individuals  are  more  prone  to  forget  than  to  overrate  their 
value.  It  is  rather  an  abuse  of  terms,  than  sound  reasoning,  to 
censure  the  national  pride  of  any  people.  That  prejudice  in  favor 
of  those  persons,  their  possessions,  merits,  and  interests,  who  are 
related  to  or  connected  with  ourselves,  which  in  the  limited  social 
circle  is  deemed  illiberal  —  when  so  extended  as  to  include  the 
community  among  whom  our  lot  is  cast,  the  land  in  which  we 
live,  and  the  institutions  established  by  our  fathers,  assumes  all 
the  characteristics  of  patriotism  ;  and  though  it  may  be  indulged 
in  an  unreasonable  degree,  still  it  has  the  excuse  of  generous  im- 
pulses, and  a  tendency  to  holy  and  elevated  purposes.  When 
did  France  see  a  more  glorious  era  than  when  she  inscribed  on 
her  national  palace  the  motto,  "Earth  has  no  nation  like  the 
French,  no  city  like  Paris,  no  king  like  Louis"  ?  When  was  the 
most  brilliant  age  of  Spain?  Even  in  the  days  of  old  Castilian 
pride.  When  did  Rome  cease  to  be  free  ?  When  the  charm  had 
fled  from  the  words,  "  I  am  a  Roman  citizen." 

Such  generous  pride  it  becomes  us  —  it  is  lawful,  it  is  profita- 
ble—  to  indulge  on  occasions  like  the  present,  and  to  cherish,  by 
the  aid  of  this,  and  all  the  other  virtuous  motives  which  can  oper- 
ate upon  the  human  heart,  the  love  of  our  common  country — • 
forgetting  not,  indeed,  to  acknowledge  the  mercy  of  that  overru- 
ling Providence  in  whose  hand  are  the  destinies  of  states,  and  who 
maketh  the  nations  of  the  earth  to  differ  from  each  other  "  as  one 
star  differeth  from  another  star  in  glory." 


204:  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

And  let  ns  not  check  the  generous  sympathies  which  flow  forth 
unbidden,  and  mingle  with  those  of  the  survivors  of  the  Revolu- 
tion—  that  gloomy  period  whose  despondency  and  suffering  we 
too  often  forget  in  admiring  its  glorious  consummation.  Military 
habits  formed  in  early  life  create  a  ruling  passion  strong  even  in 
death ;  the  hand  long  accustomed  to  the  sword,  refuses  to  obey 
the  unexciting  emotions  of  agricultural  pursuits.  Hence,  most 
of  those  survivors,  though  descending  to  the  grave  rich  in  meri- 
torious achievement,  are  pensioners  upon  our  munificence.  Let 
us  cheer,  then,  the  venerated  few  who  are  fast  disappearing  from 
the  eminence  which  divides  and  yet  unites  the  age  of  heroism 
with  our  own.  Let  us  supply  their  wants,  smooth  their  way,  and 
support  their  steps  even  unto  the  end  of  their  honored  pilgrim- 
age. So  shall  their  blessing  and  the  blessing  of  Him  who  hath 
numbered  every  one  of  their  gray  hairs,  descend  upon  us,  that 
our  days  may  be  long  in  the  land  which  the  Lord  our  God  hath 
given  us.  And  when  the  venerable  little  band  shall  no  longer 
grace  the  simple  pageantry  of  our  annual  processions,  then  let 
their  memories  and  those  of  their  compatriots  be  hallowed  in  our 
public  assemblies ;  let  the  story  of  their  deeds  be  inculcated  in 
the  earliest  education  of  our  children,  and  let  their  names  go 
down  to  posterity  familiar  in  all  our  dwellings  as  "household 
words." 

We  are  admonished,  fellow-citizens,  by  all  the  considerations, 
by  all  the  recollections,  by  all  the  glowing  anticipations  which 
give  interest  to  the  employment  of  the  day  —  by  the  demonstrated 
superiority  of  our  government,  by  the  blessings  we  enjoy,  by  the 
blood  of  our  fathers  shed  for  freedom,  by  the  scars  of  these  their 
survivors,  by  the  claims  of  posterity,  ay,  and  by  the  universal 
struggle  of  man  in  the  Old  World  for  (mancipation  —  to  look 
well  to  the  stability  of  our  institutions.  Are  we  sure  that  the 
simple,  beautiful,  yet  majestic  fabric  of  our  government,  can  never 
be  undermined  ?  Are  we  quite  sure  that  neither  we  nor  our  chil- 
dren shall  ever  come  to  drink  of  the  bitter  waters  of  slavery  ?  By 
no  means.  There  is  a  law  of  dissolution  to  which  all  the  works 
•of  man  are  subject.  Even  this  land,  like  Italy  and  the  Pelopon- 
nesus, like  Carthage  and  Syracuse,  must  one  day  own  the  sway 
of  tyrants.  Then  the  glowing  record  of  our  present  condition 
will  be  read  in  sad  contrast  with  our  then  estate,  and  our  land 
will  not,  as  now,  be  thronged  as  a  highway  cast  up  for  the  re- 


PATRIOTISM.  205 

deemed  of  the  nations,  but  will  be  visited  in  search  of  monuments- 
of  the  people  who  once  were  free.  It  is  ours  to  do  all  that  in  our 
day  and  generation  may  be  done,  that  this  catastrophe  may  be 
long  postponed ;  and  to  that  end,  it  is  of  the  last  importance  to 
revive,  renew,  and  invigorate  the  national  feeling  of  the  republic  'y 
that  national  feeling  which  effected  the  establishment  of  our  gov- 
ernment on  the  basis  of  common  interests  and  mutual  conces- 
sions, and  bound  together  all  its  parts  with  common  affections ; 
that  national  feeling  which  is  aroused  to  scrutiny  anxious  and 
untiring,  to  action  bold,  patient,  and  persevering,  by  every  inno- 
vation upon  the  constitution,  or  the  principles  upon  which  it  is 
founded.  Dr.  Franklin  wished  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  re- 
visit his  country  at  the  expiration  of  a  century  after  his  death. 
Could  he  now  return,  after  the  lapse  of  much  less  than  half  that 
period,  I  fear  he  would  find  lamentable  evidence  of  the  decline  of 
this  national  feeling  since  the  Revolutionary  age.  Methinks  Car- 
olina would  throw  away  her  pencil  and  brush  out  her  figures, 
should  her  eye  encounter  the  stern  look  of  the  patriotic  philoso- 
pher, while  rashly  calculating  the  value  of  the  Union  ;  and  New 
York,  I  can  not  but  hope,  would  blush  to  be  found  at  the  fortune- 
tellers, consulting  the  chances  of  a  verdict  in  her  favor,  in  order 
to  determine  whether  to  resist  the  supreme  court  before  trial  of  a 
cause  for  a  few  feet  of  tide-water.  These  humiliating  exhibitions, 
however,  he  might  say,  are  the  fruits  of  the  temporary  success  of 
faction.  But  what  unmitigated  indignation  would  cloud  his  ven- 
erable brow,  as  he  should  look  upon  the  picture  in  the  back- 
ground of  which  are  seen  the  remnant  of  the  Indian  race  pausing 
on  their  retreating  exile  into  the  wilderness,  and  seeming  to  say 
to  the  sisterhood  of  free  states  —  'We  fought  your  battles,  we 
spilled  our  blood  in  your  defence,  we  relied  upon  your  treaties, 
we  listened  to  the  words  of  your  ministers,  and  believed  ;  but  ye 
have  lusted  for  our  fields  and  our  mines,  your  chief  hath  broken 
our  treaties,  and  abandoned  us  to  the  rapacity  of  the  depraved  of 
your  people  !'  —  while  with  few,  discordant,  half-stifled  voices,  the 
group  thus  addressed  are  singing  paBans  to  the  he-o  who  hath 
thus  violated  solemn  treaties,  and  trampled  the  constitution  under 
his  feet ! 


206  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


ANOTYEESAKY  OF  THE  TYPOGKAPHICAL  SOCIETY. 

ALBANY,   MARCH   5,    1839. 

I  thank  you,  Mr.  President  and  gentlemen,  for  this  compli- 
ment. "While  the  toast*  acquires  much  piquancy  from  its  curious 
-combination  of  technical  terms,  it  is  not  difficult  to  discover  that 
its  sentiment  is  both  sincere  and  generous.  I  am  happy  in  the  op- 
portunity it  affords  of  making  my  acknowledgments  of  the  honor 
conferred  by  your  invitation  to  participate  in  your  festivities. 
The  power  of  the  press  is  always  acknowledged ;  but  it  is  not  so 
with  the  claims  of  its  conductors.  Although  their  influence  is  ev- 
erywhere diffused,  they  have  not  attained,  even  in  this  country, 
where  factitious  distinctions  have  scarcely  an  existence,  the  con- 
sideration to  which  they  are  entitled.  It  is  obviously  true  that 
republican  institutions,  enlarged  and  adapted  to  the  government 
of  great  and  enlightened  nations,  are  among  the  consequences  of 
the  discovery  of  the  art  of  printing.  I  shall  be  greatly  disap- 
pointed if,  on  the  other  hand,  it  be  not  a  result  of  republican  in- 
stitutions that  the  management  of  the  press,  in  its  various  depart- 
ments, shall  come  to  be  regarded  as  a  liberal  profession.  Why 
should  it  not  be  so  ?  Although  it  involves  mechanical  employ- 
ment, that  employment  itself  perpetually  exercises  the  intellec- 
tual powers,  in  a  boundless  range  of  study  and  contemplation. 
I  should  be  unfaithful  to  friends  I  see  here,  and  absent  friends, 
always  properly  remembered  on  occasions  like  this,  were  I  not 
to  say  that,  so  far  as  my  knowledge  of  men  extends,  I  have  seen 
in  no  class  of  society  patriotism  more  disinterested,  a  love  of 
truth  more  pure,  sentiments  more  elevated,  a  friendship  more 
devoted,  than  among  those  engaged  in  the  concerns  of  the  press. 

*  "The  governor  of  the  state  of  New  York — A  new  foreman  in  the  old  chapel.     May 
he  so  justify  his  head-lines,  that  there  will  be  no  squabbling  or  falling  out." 


TYPOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY.  207 

If  I  might  take  a  liberty  with  a  verse  of  that  delightful  Quaker 
bard,  Bernard  Barton,  I  could  say  — 

"This  I  know  and  have  felt,  and  thus  knowing  and  feeling, 
Unjust  and  ungrateful  I  surely  should  be, 
If  my  heartfelt  respect  and  obligations  concealing, 
My  friends  of  the  press  were  unhonored  by  me." 

I  marvel  not,  gentlemen,  that  you  find  great  satisfaction  in 
contemplating  the  achievements  of  your  noble  art.  It  is  a  mod- 
ern invention,  and  all  its  wonderful  results  lie  within  the  period 
of  accurate  and  uninterrupted  history.  Yet  how  imperfectly 
does  history  present  them  !  Whatever  we  possess  of  philosophy, 
of  literature,  of  liberty  and  religion,  seems,  if  not  to  have  been 
produced,  at  least  to  have  been  diffused  among  all  our  people, 
by  the  art  of  printing.  If  we  reflect  still  more  closely,  we  can 
scarcely  conceive  that  this  continent  would  have  emerged  from 
its  obscurity,  and  civilized  man  have  enjoyed  a  habitation  here, 
but  for  the  universal  illumination  of  the  world  by  printing. 

Great  as  these  achievements  have  been,  they  are  inconsidera- 
ble when  compared  with  the  destiny  of  the  noble  art.  It  is  a 
law  of  our  condition  that  we  are  constantly  employing,  for  tem- 
porary ends  and  immediate  advantage,  agents  whose  powers  are 
yet  but  partially  known,  and  whose  results  will  astonish  future 
ages.  Of  no  agent  is  this  more  true  than  of  the  press.  Imagine 
the  time  when  the  press  shall  have  broken  its  fetters  throughout 
Europe  ;  when  it  shall  have  attained  its  full  sway  in  South  Amer- 
ica ;  when  it  shall  be  enlightening  a  busy  world  on  the  coast  of 
the  Pacific  ocean ;  when  it  shall  have  been  established  on  the 
shores  of  the  Nile  and  the  Ganges,  and  in  all  the  islands  of  the 
sea  —  and  the  philosopher's  dream  of  universal  liberty  will  cease 
to  be  considered  a  fond  imagination,  and  the  religious  expectation 
k>:  a  millennium  to  be  regarded  as  a  superstitious  delusion. 


208  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


SUNDAY-SCHOOL  CELEBRATION. 

STATEN  ISLAND,   JULY  4,    1839. 

¥y  Friends  and  Fellow-Citizens  : 

We  have  come  up  here  to  rejoice  that  we  are  a  free  people, 
and  that  we  live  under  the  protection  of  republican  institutions. 
Theorists  of  other  countries  may  speculate  upon  the  dangers 
which  beset  our  constitution.  The  parasites  of  power  and  favor- 
ites of  fortune  may  censure  our  principles  and  our  manners;  yet 
if  the  sense  of  mankind  could  be  taken,  by  offering  to  the  people 
of  every  nation,  and  kindred,  and  tongue  on  earth,  the  constitu- 
tion, the  franchises,  and  the  condition,  we  enjoy,  our  fellow-men 
would  everywhere  rise  at  once  from  under  long-endured  oppres- 
sion, and  become  freemen  and  republicans  as  we  are. 

It  is  right  and  proper  to  assemble  ourselves  together,  to  do 
honor  to  the  memory  of  our  forefathers.  Our  liberty  and  secu- 
rity were  obtained  by  their  privations  and  sacrifices ;  yet  these 
privations  and  sacrifices  were  voluntary.  The  exactions  of  Eng- 
land were  not  yet  extreme.  The  weight  of  her  oppression  was  not 
yet  intolerable.  All  might  have  been  yielded  that  was  demanded, 
and  all  could  have  been  endured  that  was  sought  to  be  inflicted, 
and  the  people  of  the  American  colonies  would  nevertheless  have 
remained  more  free  and  less  oppressed  than  any  other  nation  on 
earth.  But  modified  liberty  and  comparative  security  were  not 
enough  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  our  ancestors.  They  had  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  absolute  independence  of  foreign  power,  and 
had  wisely  learned  that  true  freedom  could  only  be  secured  by 
institutions  of  self-government.  They  never  stopped  to  calculate 
how  much  of  the  cost  was  to  fall  upon  them,  and  how  small  must 
be  their  share  of  the  inestimable  benefit  of  the  Revolution. 

It  is  a  purpose  worthy  of  our  coming  here,  to  render  ascriptions 
of  praise  and  thanksgiving  for  the  Divine  favor  and  protection. 
Nor  could  any  other  ceremonial  of  worship  be  so  suitable  as  that 
you  have  adopted,  of  bringing  hither  the  children  and  youth  of 


SUNDAY-SCHOOLS.  209 

your  great  city,  to  relate  to  them  here,  beneath  the  forest-shade, 
and  upon  the  hillside,  the  wonders  that  God  hath  done  in  our  be- 
half. It  has  its  precedents  in  the  numerous  injunctions  of  the 
prophets  to  transmit  in  like  manner  the  traditions  of  his  favor 
toward  his  chosen  people. 

But  exultation  because  we  are  free,  might  well  be  the  action 
even  of  minds  selfish  and  ignoble.  Gratitude  to  our  forefathers, 
if  it  produces  no  beneficent  result,  is  only  an  unavailing  homage 
to  the  dead.  Even  ascriptions  of  praise  to  God  merit  no  accept- 
ance if  they  proceed  from  hearts  that  are  not  inspired  with  char- 
ity toward  our  fellow-men.  When  we  adopt  measures  for  diffu- 
sing throughout  a  wider  sphere  the  freedom  we  enjoy,  and  ex- 
tending its  fruition  to  more  distant  generations,  benevolence 
crowns  all  the  other  motives  which  render  this  a  day  of  festivity 
and  praise  throughout  our  land. 

And  there  is  need  enough,  my  fellow-citizens,  for  such  benevo- 
lent action  as  this  in  which  you  are  engaged.  Our  institutions, 
excellent  as  they  are,  have  hitherto  produced  but  a  small  portion 
of  the  beneficent  results  they  are  calculated  to  confer  upon  the 
people.  The  chief  of  those  benefits  is  equality.  We  do  indeed 
enjoy  equality  of  civil  rights ;  but  we  have  not  yet  attained,  we 
have  only  approximated  toward,  what  is  even  more  important  — 
equality  of  social  condition. 

From  the  beginning  of  time,  aristocracy  has  existed,  and  soci- 
ety has  been  divided  into  classes  —  the  rich  and  the  poor  —  the 
strong  and  the  dependent — the  learned  and  the  unlearned;  and 
from  this  inequality  of  social  condition  have  resulted  the  igno- 
rance, the  crime,  and  the  sufferings  of  the  people.  Let  it  excite 
no  wonder  when  I  say  that  this  inequality  exists  among  us,  and, 
that  aristocracy  has  a  home  even  in  the  land  of  freedom.  It  does 
not,  indeed,  deprive  us  of  our  civil  rights,  but  it  prevents  the  dif- 
fusion of  prosperity  and  happiness.  We  should  be  degenerate 
descendants  of  our  heroic  forefathers  did  we  not  assail  this  aris- 
tocracy, remove  the  barriers  between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  break- 
the  control  of  the  few  over  the  many,  extend  the  largest  liberty 
to  the  greatest  number,  and  strengthen  in  every  way  the  demo- 
cratic principles  of  our  constitution. 

This  is  the  work  in  which  you  are  engaged.  Sunday-schools, 
and  common  schools  are  the  great  levelling  institutions  of  the 
age.     What  is  the  secret  of  aristocracy?     It  is,  that  knowledge 

Vol.  III.— 14     ' 


210  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

is  power.  Knowledge,  the  world  over,  has  been  possessed  by  the 
few,  and  ignorance  has  been  the  lot  of  the  many.  The  merchant 
—  what  is  it  that  gives  him  wealth  ?  The  lawyer —  what  is  it  that 
gives  him  political  power?  The  clergy  —  what  is  it  that  gives 
them  influence  so  benign  for  good  purposes,  so  effective  for  mis- 
chievous ends?  Knowledge.  What  makes  this  man  a  common 
laborer,  and  the  other  a  usurer — this  man  a  slave,  and  the  other  a 
tyrant?  Knowledge.  Knowledge  can  never  be  taken  from  those 
by  whom  it  has  once  been  attained  ;  and  hence  the  power  which 
it  confers  upon  the  few  can  not  be  broken  while  the  many  are 
uneducated.  Strip  its  possessors  of  all  their  wealth,  and  power, 
and  honors,  and  knowledge  still  remains  the  same  mighty  agent 
to  restore  again  the  inequality  you  have  removed.  But  there  is 
a  more  effectual  way  to  banish  aristocracy  from  among  us.  It  is 
by  extending  the  advantages  of  knowledge  to  the  many  —  to  all 
the  citizens  of  the  state.  Just  so  far  and  so  fast  as  education  is 
extended,  democracy  is  ascendent. 

I  wish  you,  my  fellow-citizens,  God  speed  in  your  benevolent 
and  patriotic  labors.  Seldom  does  it  happen  to  any  citizen  to 
render  to  hi£  country  any  service  more  lasting  or  more  effectual 
than  that  which  is  accomplished  by  the  teachers  of  such  schools 
as  these.  While  they  are  at  work  throughout  the  country,  we 
need  indulge  no  fears  of  extending  too  widely  the  privilege  of 
suffrage  and  the  right  of  citizenship. 

I  present  you  my  humble  and  grateful  acknowledgments  for  the 
generous  welcome  you  have  given  me.  Although  it  may  not  be 
in  my  power  to  accomplish  any  good  design  which  I  have  cher- 
ished, and  by  which  I  have  hoped  to  contribute  something  to  the 
prosperity  of  the  state,  I  can  never  forget  that,  under  circum- 
stances so  propitious,  I  had  the  privilege  of  raising  my  voice  as 
an  advocate  for  the  moral  and  intellectual  improvement  of  the 
people. 


EDUCATION  AND  IMPROVEMENTS.  211 


ADDRESS. 

OGDENSBURGH,   AUGUST   15,   1889. 

I  thank  you  for  the  generous  sentiments*  you  have  expressed, 
and  for  connecting  my  name  with  two  such  important  subjects 
as  education  and  internal  improvement.  I  know  full  well  that 
this  kind  mention  of  my  name,  is  not  for  anything  I  have  been 
able  to  accomplish,  but  arises  from  a  desire  which  I  cherish,  in 
common  with  my  fellow-citizens,  to  advance  and  promote  those 
great  interests.  Important  as  internal  improvements  must  be  re- 
garded, it  is  still  subordinate  to  general  education.  It  is  a  law 
of  nature  that  man  shall  labor  and  draw  his  sustenance  from  the 
earth,  and  knowledge  is  indispensable  to  his  successful  efforts. 
It  is  true  that  there  is  an  intimate  connection  between  these  sub- 
jects. Education  enables  the  people  to  judge  of  the  value,  neces- 
sity, and  importance  of  internal  improvements,  and  improvements 
stimulate  enterprise  and  give  impulse  to  the  cause  of  education. 

Many  have  expressed  their  fears  for  the  perpetuity  of  our  re- 
publican institutions,  but  for  my  part,  while  a  judicious  course 
of  popular  education  is  pursued,  I  cherish  no  such  apprehensions. 
Our  country  embraces  a  wide  extent  of  territory,  and  a  great 
diversity  of  people  ;  yet  under  all  circumstances  from  the  highest 
grades  of  moral  and  intellectual  excellence,  to  the  lowest  grade 
of  condemned  criminals,  all  admit  the  justice  of  those  principles 
on  which  our  government  is  based.  Of  this  general  acquiescence 
in  the  principles  of  our  institutions  there  is  sufficient  evidence 
in  the  fact  that  treason  has  not  been  named  among  our  crimes 
for  the  last  forty  years.  What  then  can  shake  the  institutions 
of  the  country?  Without  a  standing  army  we  are  able  to 
maintain  our  territory  inviolate.  Our  security  arises  from  the 
fact  that  the  bayonets  of  sixteen  millions  of  freemen  are  ready 

*  This  speech  was  a  brief  reply  to  the  following  sentiment: — 

"The  Governor  of  the  State  ofNew  York— The  ardent  and  devoted  friend  of  Univer- 
sal Education  and  Internal  Improvement,  the  two  main  pillars  of  the  republican  sy»- 


212  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

to  volunteer  in  the  defence  of  our  free  institutions.  When  I 
contrast  these  facts  with  the  condition  of  other  countries,  where 
a  standing  army  is  necessary  to  carry  into  effect  the  mandates 
of  government,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  express  my  firm  conviction, 
that  in  no  country  has  such  general  and  undoubted  loyalty  been 
manifested  toward  the  institutions  of  a  country,  as  in  republican 
America.  This  is  the  loyalty  which  educated  men  cherish  for  a. 
government  founded  on  just  principles,  which  protects  them  in 
their  rights  of  property,  social  enjoyment,  and  religious  faith  and 
worship,  and  while  every  citizen  is  true  to  himself  and  alive 
to  the  importance  of  the  two  subjects  with  which  my  name  ha& 
been  so  flatteringly  connected,  our  institutions  will  not  only 
continue,  but  must  extend,  and  find  new  advocates  wherever 
education  and  internal  improvement  are  cherished.  I  have  al- 
ways, at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances,  been  the  sincere 
advocate  of  the  development  of  our  physical  resources,  and  the 
extension  of  popular  education,  as  measures  paramount  to  all 
other  political  questions.  There  can  be  no  improvement  of  the 
physical  condition  of  a  country  which  will  not  stimulate  all  the 
motives  to  moral  and  intellectual  improvement  of  the  people  \ 
and  the  increased  intelligence  of  the  country  directs  their  atten- 
tion to  the  removal  of  every  physical  barrier  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  state.  Education  is  constantly  increasing  the  number  of 
those  who  justly  estimate  the  advantages  and  resources  of  the 
country.  Internal  improvement  distributes  to  every  portion  of 
the  state,  and  among  all  its  citizens,  the  comforts  and  enjoyments 
of  civilized  life,  in  the  absence  of  which  knowledge  is  seldom  ex- 
tended, and  patriotism  rarely  beneficially  displayed. 

While  I  am  thankful  that  my  name  has  been  connected  with 
these  important  questions,  I  assure  you  all  that  I  am  willing  to 
abide  the  issue  of  the  public  judgment  on  these  measures.  It 
could  not  gratify  a  generous  mind  to  fill  any  place  in  the  public 
view,  if  that  mind  cherished  no  desire  to  contribute  to  the  public 
welfare.  But  if  the  individual  on  whom  important  responsibili- 
ties are  devolved,  can  see,  as  the  fruits  of  his  public  action,  one 
acre  rendered  more  productive,  one  section  brought  nearer  to  the 
common  centre,  one  new  product  offered  in  the  common  market, 
or  one  additional  institution  of  learning  opened  to  the  children  of 
the  commonwealth,  he  may  truly  rejoice  that  he  has  not  labored 
in  vain.     He  may  follow  the  consequences  of  such  enlightened 


EDUCATION  AND  IMPROVEMENT.  213 

action  through  a  long  course  of  years,  and  perceive  them  widely 
and  more  widely  extending,  increasing  the  aggregate  of  social 
and  domestic  happiness,  and  the  stability  of  republican  institu- 
tions. 

Much  as  mankind  cherish  the  love  of  liberty,  it  is  not  the  only 
object  of  desire.  Give  them  freedom,  and  they  will  demand 
improvement  as  the  natural  means  of  gratifying  their  rational 
desires.  In  this  country  the  people  are  free  in  their  political, 
social,  and  religious  action,  yet  from  one  boundary  to  the  other 
they  are  excited  with  the  desire  of  improvement,  and  they  will 
not  be  disappointed  or  delayed  in  their  efforts.  It  is  the  object 
of  republican  institutions  to  encourage  and  stimulate  improve- 
ment of  the  physical  condition  of  the  country,  and  to  promote 
the  moral  and  intellectual  advancement  of  its  citizens ;  to  dis- 
courage military  ambition,  and  shun  the  causes  which  produce 
stagnation  of  enterprise  and  promote  personal  faction,  that  en- 
gross the  passions  of  the  people,  and  arrest  the  progress  of  im- 
provement. 

If  the  theory  of  our  constitution  was  fully  expounded  by  its 
founders,  its  most  complete  security  is  to  be  effected  by  the 
highest  attainable  equality  in  the  social  condition  of  our  citizens. 
Power  will  always  unite  with  the  few  or  the  many,  according 
to  the  extension  or  limitation  of  knowledge.  The  highest  attain- 
able equality  is  to  be  accomplished  by  education  and  internal 
improvement,  as  they  distribute  among  the  whole  community 
the  advantages  of  knowledge  and  wealth. 


214  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


ADDRESS* 

OGDENSBURGH,   AUGUST  20,   1889. 

Gentlemen  : 

Had  I  anticipated  in  past  years  that  my  present  responsibili- 
ties would  fall  upon  me,  I  should  not  have  been  until  now  a 
stranger  in  the  northern  region  of  the  state.  Late  as  it  is,  I  ac- 
complish a  long-chen'shed  desire  in  coming  here  to  learn  the 
resources,  the  interests,  and  the  exigencies  of  this  portion  of  the 
state,  that  I  may  be  more  able  hereafter  to  contribute  to  its  ad- 
vancement, and  the  prosperity  of  its  citizens. 

I  have  come  among  you,  neither  seeking  nor  desiring  any  pub- 
lic demonstrations  of  kindness  or  respect.  How  much  I  am 
gratified  by  the  welcome  which  has  been  extended  to  me  by  all 
classes,  of  my  fellow-citizens,  I  will  not  attempt  to  describe.  I 
pray  you,  however,  gentlemen,  to  be  assured  that  no  incident 
which  has  occurred  to  me  here,  and  no  incident  which  has  ever 
occurred  to  me,  has  affected  me  more  deeply  than  this  acknowl- 
edgment of  your  favorable  regard,  growing  out  of  my  action  in 
the  painful  case  to  which  you  have  referred.  I  know  that  you 
have  overrated  the  merit  of  that  action,  yet  I  do  rejoice  on  every 
occasion  to  vindicate  the  democratic  principles  of  our  govern- 
ment ;  and  I  have  seen  that  the  principle  involved  in  this  last 
occasion  is  one  upon  which  there  is  too  often  a  tendency  to  en- 
croach. I  can  not  but  feel  that  the  expression  to  which  I  have 
listened  proceeds  from  hearts  as  generous  and  unsophisticated  as- 
the  expressions  themselves  are  ardent  and  unmeasured.  The 
principle  of  equal  toleration  of  religious  creeds  lies  at  the  base 
of  our  constitution,  and  side  by  side  with  it  is  that  of  equality  of 
social  and  political  rights.  As  I  have  understood  the  theory  of 
our  government,  it  was  intended,  not  only  to  secure  to  native 

*  Address  to  the  Catholics  of  Ogdensburgh,  touching  the  matter  of  allowing  their 
priests  to  visit  condemned  criminals.     See  letter  to  sheriff  of  Lewis  county,  Vol.  II. 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY.  215 

citizens  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  but  to  offer  an 
asylum  also  to  the  oppressed  of  all  lands. 

With  regard  to  those  who  avail  themselves  of  the  invitation 
thus  sent  abroad  throughout  the  earth,  I  know,  as  a  magistrate, 
of  no  rule  of  action  but  to  practise  that  equality  which  the  laws 
prescribe ;  as  a  citizen,  none  but  to  inquire  what  would  be  the 
rights  and  privileges  I  should- think  myself  entitled  to  demand  in 
a  country  whose  institutions  were  established  for  the  purpose  of 
affording  the  greatest  measure  of  social,  political,  and  religious 
liberty,  to  all  who  might  seek  their  protection.  As  an  American 
citizen,  I  should  certainly  expect,  in  any  such  country,  whether 
catholic  or  protestant,  free  toleration  and  enjoyment  of  my  reli- 
gious faith  and  worship.  That  toleration  and  enjoyment  I  would 
secure  to  you  and  to  all  others  who  may  seek  a  refuge  here ;  and 
our  institutions  are  unworthy  the  veneration  you  have  so  justly 
expressed,  and  I  entertain  for  them,  if  it  can  not  safely  be  al- 
lowed. 

Accept,  gentlemen,  my  grateful  acknowledgments,  and  my 
ardent  wishes  that  your  pursuits  may  be  rewarded  with  success, 
and  that  the  God  of  your  fathers  and  mine  may  crown  your  lives 
with  prosperity,  peace,  and  happiness. 


216  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


ADDKESS. 

BATH,   STEUBEN  COUNTY,   SEPTEMBER  5,   1839. 

Gentlemen  : 

Having  had  many  occasions  to  regret  the  want  of  an  adequate 
knowledge  of  the  physical  formation,  the  actual  condition,  and 
the  capabilities  of  improvement  of  the  regions  of  the  state  lying 
along  its  boundaries,  I  have  visited  the  shores  of  our  northern 
lakes  and  rivers,  and,  after  a  journey  of  several  weeks,  have  ar- 
rived here,  in  my  progress  through  the  region  of  the  sources  of 
the  great  rivers  of  the  south.  With  the  exception  of  a  week  spent 
among  my  friends  in  Chautauque  county,  I  have  denied  myself 
the  pleasure  of  intercourse  with  my  fellow-citizens  in  any  form. 
1  shall,  nevertheless,  be  compelled  by  previous  engagements  to 
relinquish  for  the  present  my  purpose  of  visiting  the  southern 
tier  of  counties  east  of  Tioga.  You  will  please  accept  this  expla- 
nation as  my  apology  for  that  omission,  as  well  as  for  the  haste 
in  which  I  shall  leave  the  county  of  Steuben.  It  is  to  be  desired 
that  every  citizen  of  the  state  engaged  in  public  affairs  should  be 
intimately  acquainted  with  all  the  different  portions  of  its  terri- 
tory. If  he  could  thus  obtain  a  personal  knowledge  of  the  im- 
mense mineral  resources  and  manufacturing  advantages  of  the 
north,  and  of  the  agricultural  and  commercial  advantages  of  the 
west  and  south,  he  would  have  a  just  conception  of  the  greatness 
and  power  of  the  whole  state,  and  the  unity  and  harmony  of  its 
varied  interests.  He  would  no  longer  regard  the  state  as  weak 
and  impoverished,  or  any  portion  of  it  as  unworthy  the  fostering 
care  of  the  legislature.  He  would  no  longer  fear  that  the  im- 
provement of  one  section  would  impair  the  prosperity  of  another ; 
nor  longer  doubt  the  ability  of  the  state,  with  judicious  and  well- 
directed  efforts,  to  accomplish  the  desired  improvements  of  the 
whole. 

If  he  were  a  republican,  and  understood  the  operation  of  equal 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.  217 

suffrage,  he  would  learn  how  impossible  it  is  to  retain  one  sec- 
tion in  a  condition  of  inferiority  to  others  which  are  enriched  by 
the  aid  of  the  state ;  and  how  idle  it  is  to  believe  that,  while  ca- 
nals waft  with  certainty  and  rapidity  toward  the  commercial  em- 
poriums of  the  states  the  productions  and  manufactures  of  the 
west,  those  of  the  north  and  south  shall  continue  to  bear  the  con- 
suming expenses  of  conveyance  upon  common  roads,  and  of  the 
dilatory  and  precarious  transportation  upon  the  St.  Lawrence,  the 
Allegany,  the  Susquehannah,  and  Delaware,  to  more  distant  and 
less  profitable  markets.  He  would  learn  that  while  the  central 
and  eastern  regions  of  the  state  enjoy  the  advantages  of  mails 
twice  a  day,  conveyed  by  steam  upon  rivers  and  railroads,  the 
citizens  of  the  north  and  south  will  not  and  ought  not  to  be  con- 
tent to  receive  their  agricultural,  commercial,  social,  and  political 
intelligence,  one,  two,  three,  or  four  days  later  than  that  enjoyed 
by  their  fellow-citizens  living  at  the  same  distance  from  the  cap- 
itals of  the  state  and  the  Union.  He  would  acknowledge  that 
Internal  Improvement,  instead  of  being  a  demon  come  to  spread 
desolation  over  the  land,  is  a  beneficent  spirit,  whose  sway  he 
would  invoke,  until  it  shall  bring  the  comfort  and  enjoyment  of 
social  life  to  every  family  in  the  state ;  that  instead  of  raising  a 
few  to  unequal  and  inordinate  wealth,  internal  improvement  dis- 
tributes among  the  cultivators  of  the  soil,  and  the  laborers  from 
«very  region,  the  hoarded  treasures  of  our  cities  and  of  Europe. 
Instead  of  establishing  a  splendid  government  to  oppress  the 
people  and  exhaust  their  substance,  it  increases  the  individual 
knowledge  and  wealth  of  the  agricultural  class,  and  diminishes 
the  influence  and  power  of  those  who  enjoy  central  and  commer- 
cial locations.  The  Erie  canal,  the  Champlain  canal,  and  all  our 
other  canals  and  railroads,  were  made  under  the  influence  of 
those  who  were  called  enthusiasts.  Much  as  is  said  about  aban- 
doning our  public  works  already  constructed,  we  have  yet  to 
learn  which  one  of  them  the  people  are  willing  to  relinquish.  Im- 
provements and  inventions  have  often  been  effected  by  those  who 
believed  that  more  could  be  accomplished  than  was  found  to  be 
practicable.  But  no  useful  improvement  or  invention  was  ever 
made  by  one  whose  prudence  exceeded  his  enterprise.  There  is 
nothing  mysterious  in  the  matter  of  canals  and  railroads.  It  has 
been  always  known  that  burdens  are  more  easily  carried  upon 
the  water  than  upon  the  land.     It  has  been  but  recently  disco v- 


218  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

ered,  or  at  least  the  invention  has  but  recently  been  applied  to 
practical  purposes,  that  burdens  are  more  easily  and  therefore 
more  cheaply  transported  upon  iron  rails  on  graded  planes  than 
over  the  unequal  and  rough  surfaces  of  common  roads.  Canals 
and  railroads,  like  turnpikes  and  M'Adam  roads,  are  but  im- 
proved roads  adapted  to  the  increased  business  of  the  commu- 
nity, and  the  enterprise  of  the  times.  I  can  no  more  yield  my 
assent  to  the  arguments  of  those  who  oppose  the  construction  of 
such  railroads  as  the  exigencies  of  the  community  require,  than  I 
can  admit  that  the  expenditures  heretofore  made  in  the  construc- 
tion of  common  roads,  turnpike  and  M'Adam  roads,  were  waste- 
ful and  injurious  to  the  public  welfare  or  the  public  morals,  or 
dangerous  to  democratic  government. 

But  there  is  this  advantage  in  these  improvements  over  com- 
mon roads.  The  increased  amount  of  transportation,  and  the 
diminution  of  its  expenses,  render  them  capable,  as  a  whole  sys- 
tem, of  defraying  the  cost  of  their  construction  and  maintenance 
without  resort  to  taxation.  The  experience  of  this  state,  and  the 
most  careful  investigation  of  its  financial  resources,  warrant  the 
conviction  that  ever}7  improvement  hitherto  admitted,  as  a  part 
of  the  system,  can  be  effected  without  taxation,  or  the  creation 
of  a  debt  which  will  now  or  hereafter  render  taxation  necessary. 
The  only  questions  are,  whether  our  canals  shall,  by  judicious 
means,  be  rendered  as  productive  as  possible,  and  whether  their 
income  shall  be  expended  for  the  public  welfare  and  the  further 
improvement  of  the  state. 

I  am  not  now,  gentlemen,  for  the  first  time  to  express  my  views 
in  relation  to  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad.  At  the  time  of 
the  passage  of  the  act  incorporating  the  New  York  and  Erie 
Railroad  Company,  I  was  of  opinion  that  it  was  an  enterprise  too 
large  for  the  capacity  of  such  a  corporation,  and  which,  if  intrust- 
ed to  a  corporation,  would  be  likely  to  give  it  too  great  an  influ- 
ence. Other  views,  however,  prevailed ;  and  I  have  since  that 
time  cordially  acquiesced  in  the  policy  which  has  been  adopted 
of  affording  legislative  aid  to  this  and  other  companies.  I  have 
observed,  however,  with  regret,  that  the  company  have  not  been 
able  to  prosecute  the  work  with  the  energy  necessary  to  secure 
its  construction.  Both  houses  of  the  legislature  seem  to  have 
come  to  the  same  conclusion.  It  belongs  of  right  to  the  legisla- 
ture, and  is  foreign  to  the  duties  of  the  executive,  to  assume  to 


NEW  YORK  AND  ERIE  RAILROAD.  219 

direct  in  regard  to  the  manner  of  raising  and  appropriating  public 
moneys.  But  there  can  be  no  impropriety  in  my  saying — what 
has  doubtless  been  well  understood  throughout  the  state  —  that 
the  bill  which  was  passed  by  the  assembly  at  the  last  session, 
providing  for  the  construction  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad, 
had  my  decided  approbation,  and  that  I  should  have  signed  it 
with  the  greatest  satisfaction  (had  it  passed  the  senate),  not  only 
as  a  measure  justly  due  to  the  people  of  the  southern  counties, 
and  wisely  calculated  to  advance  the  prosperity  of  the  state,  but 
also  as  one  which  would  honorably  distinguish  the  period  of  my 
connection  with  the  administration  of  public  affairs.  These  views 
are  confirmed  by  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  region 
more  particularly  interested  in  the  improvement,  and  I  am  satis- 
fied that  the  expense  of  the  work  has  been  greatly  and  unneces- 
sarily exaggerated,  while  its  usefulness  has  been  but  imperfectly 
conceived.  Entertaining  these  opinions,  I  shall  be  at  all  times 
ready  and  willing  to  co-operate  in  the  same  measure,  and  yield 
as  I  have  heretofore  done  my  best  exertions  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  this  great  improvement.  I  pray  you,  gentlemen,  to  re- 
ceive and  to  make  known  to  the  citizens  of  Steuben  county,  whom 
you  represent,  my  grateful  acknowledgments  for  the  kindness- 
extended  to  me  during  my  brief  visit  here. 


220  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


SPEECH.* 

ALBANY,   MARCH  17,    1840. 

Mr.  President: 

This  kindness  compels  me  to  speak,  although  I  had  hoped  to 
remain  a  silent  partaker  of  your  hospitalities.  Having  risen,  I 
should  be  a  churlish  and  ungrateful  guest  should  I  express  other 
sentiments  and  feelings  than  those  which  the  occasion  inspires.  I 
must  speak,  as  every  one  will  who  shall  follow  me,  of  Ireland  and 
Irishmen.  Yet  I  have  been  admonished  on  more  occasions  than 
one,  that,  because  it  is  my  fortune  now  to  be  concerned  in  public 
affairs,  I  must  not  speak  of  your  country  and  your  countrymen 
as  throughout  my  whole  life  I  have  spoken,  and  as  I  feel  that 
every  American  citizen  ought  to  speak,  lest  I  may  be  thought 
unduly  desirous  of  your  good  opinion. 

Mr.  President,  I  have  followed  a  plain  and  simple  rule  thus 
far,  and  I  think  I  shall  not  abandon  it  now.  It  is,  to  speak  my 
honest  opinions  on  all  proper  occasions,  even  when  those  opin- 
ions may  be  unpopular ;  and  I  certainly  shall  not,  on  such  occa- 
sions, suppress  the  common  feelings  of  kindness,  gratitude,  affec- 
tion, or  sympathy,  because  in  any  quarter  they  may  be  deemed 
affected  or  insincere.  I  say,  therefore,  in  all  plainness,  that  I  am 
among  you  to-night  because  I  think  it  is  right  to  be  here.  It  is 
Si  duty  which,  as  a  citizen,  I  owe  to  my  country,  to  cherish  and 
to  manifest  feelings  of  respect,  of  kindness,  and  of  equality,  tow- 
ard adopted  citizens.  Why  should  alienation  exist  between  na- 
tive and  adopted  citizens?  We  are  all  of  one  race.  We  have 
the  same  passions,  hopes,  interests,  responsibilities,  duties,  and 
affections.  Distant  as  our  native  lands  are  asunder,  there  is  no 
longer  an  ocean  between  us.  God  has  not  made  us  such  that  our 
moral  and  intellectual  faculties  must  droop,  or  such  that  we  must 
lose  our  virtues,  when  we  leave  the  spot  or  the  country  where 

*  Address  to  the  Irishmen  of  Albany,  on  St  Patrick's  day,  in  reply  to  a  complimen- 
tary toast  given  at  the  festival  to  which  Governor  Seward  had  been  invited. 


ST.  PATRICK'S  DAY.  221 

we  were  born.  The  whole  earth  is  the  home  of  man,  and  he 
may  rightfully  seek  happiness  and  do  good  in  any  part  of  his 
broad  heritage.  As  to  us,  however  it  may  have  been  heretofore,, 
we  have  now  one  constitution  to  maintain,  one  country  to  defend. 
You  may  exclude  from  the  calendar  of  your  saints,  ministers 
whose  teaching  I  venerate,  and  I  may  not  revere  all  the  Chris- 
tian fathers  acknowledged  by  your  church ;  yet  whatever  there 
is  right  in  the  creed,  or  pure  and  acceptable  in  the  worship  of 
either,  has  the  same  Divine  authority,  and  is  imbued  with  the 
same  precious  hopes :  and  as  to  all  the  points  whereon  we  differ, 
we  are  alike  inhibited  from  judging  each  other.  Why  should  the 
native  American  indulge  prejudice  against  foreigners.  It  is  to 
hate  such  as  his  forefathers  were.  Why  should  a  foreigner  dis- 
like native  citizens?  It  is  to  hate  such  as  his  children,  born  here,, 
must  be. 

For  my  own  part,  I  should  be  no  true  American  if  I  did  no* 
feel  toward  your  country  and  her  sons  as  I  always  speak  of  them. 
I  have  had  some  opportunity  to  learn  something  of  both,  and 
therefore  1  know  your  motives  and  reasons  for  expatriation.  I 
shall  never  forget  the  indignation  with  which  I  looked  upon  the 
monuments  of  the  subjection  of  Ireland.  Many  of  you  may  re- 
member an  equestrian  statue  which  graces  the  College-green  in 
Dublin,  and  bears  an  inscription  purporting  that  it  was  erected 
to  commemorate  the  restoration  of  liberty,  and  the  establishment 
of  religion  in  Ireland,  by  William  of  Orange.  Protestant  as  I 
am,  I  could  not  wonder  that  such  a  monument  should  be  regarded 
as  a  perpetual  insult  to  Ireland  and  Irishmen,  and  that  for  more 
than  one  hundred  years  it  has  been  necessary  to  surround  it  with 
a  guard  on  the  recurrence  of  every  seventeenth  of  March,  to  pre- 
serve it  from  demolition.  And  that  majestic  palace,  the  parlia- 
ment-house—  the  capitol  of  Ireland  —  when  I  saw  it  converted 
into  a  bank,  and  its  spacious  halls,  that  once  resounded  with  Irish 
eloquence,  now  filled  with  money-changers,  my  mind  reverted  to 
the  night  when  an  Irish  parliament,  corrupted  by  British  influ- 
ence, betrayed  their  country  into  a  provincial  connection  with 
England.  I  felt,  that,  had  I  had  a  seat  there,  I  would  rather 
have  been  dragged  lifeless  from  the  senate-chamber  than  have 
yielded  to  such  a  union.  Were  I  a  citizen  now,  I  would  "  agitate 
and  agitate,"  until  that  union  was  repealed,  and  an  Irish  parlia- 
ment  and  Irish   liberty  were  restored.     I  have  heard  Daniel 


222  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

O'Connell  proclaim  his  country's  wrongs  in  the  British  parlia- 
ment ;  and  if  he  be  as  eloquent  as  you  believe,  and  in  truth  I 
think  he  is  so,  how  could  I  fail  to  sympathize  with  his  efforts  for 
her  emancipation?  When  emigrants  from  such  a  country  —  a 
country  of  brave,  generous,  and  intellectual  men,  conquered,  de- 
graded, and  oppressed  —  seek  liberty  and  happiness  here,  why 
should  we  refuse  them  a  cordial  and  a  generous  greeting?  Is  it 
because  most  of  those  who  seek  our  shores  are  poor  and  of  low 
estate  ?  Let  such  as  can  trace  their  pedigree  through  three  gen- 
erations, and  find  cause  of  pride  in  such  an  accident,  indulge  so 
mean  a  sentiment.  I  have  no  such  advantage.  Those  who  pros- 
per upon  Ireland's  misfortunes,  have  no  need  to  abandon  her ; 
and  for  myself,  if  I  had  the  power  to  choose,  whether  to  confer 
the  rights  of  citizenship  upon  such,  or  upon  the  friendless  laborers 
who  crowd  to  our  shores,  I  should  on  every  consideration  prefer  the 
latter.  They  improve  their  own  condition,  they  contribute  to  the 
improvement  of  ours;  and  they  can  know  and  appreciate  the 
value  of  equal  laws  and  free  institutions.  I  have  no  fear  of  evil 
to  our  institutions  from  such  accessions  to  our  population.  What 
power  can  overthrow  institutions  that  enlist  every  citizen  in  their 
defence?  Who  can  undermine  a  constitution  whose  foundations 
are  jealously  watched  by  every  citizen  of  the  state  ?  I  know  that 
our  institutions  command,  as  they  must,  the  respect  and  secure 
the  affections  of  all  men,  and  especially  of  those  who  have  been 
trodden  down  in  foreign  lands,  or  sufferers  by  poverty  or  adver- 
sity in  our  own.  So  long  as  our  legislature  will  provide  from 
our  ample  resources  for  the  education  of  all  the  children  of  the 
commonwealth,  and  so  long  as  the  Christian  religion  has  sway  in 
the  land,  popular  suffrage  may  be  left  without  any  other  limita- 
tion than  those  fixed  by  the  constitution,  universal  as  the  masses 
that  live  under  the  protection  of  our  laws. 

But,  gentlemen,  I  rose  not  to  make  a  speech,  but  to  thank  you 
in  the  simplest  manner  for  all  your  kindness  toward  me  now  and 
heretofore,  and  to  make  my  apology  for  what  I  have  spoken  on 
other  occasions. 


AMERICAN  BIBLE  SOCIETY.  223 


ANNIVERSARY  OF  THE  AMERICAN  BIBLE  SOCIETY. 

NEW   YORK,   MAY,    1889. 

Introductory  Note. — The  twenty-third  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Bible  Soci- 
ety was  held  at  the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  May  9,  1839,  the  Hon.  John  Cotton  Smith, 
the  president,  in  the  chair,  supported  by  Governor  Seward  and  by  Vice-Presidents  Peter 
A.  Jay  and  others.  Governor  Seward's  brief  remarks  were  made  in  seconding  the  fol- 
lowing resolution,  offered  by  Rev.  Sylvester  Holmes:  "Resolved,  That  as  ten  years 
have  now  elapsed  since  the  previous  effort  to  supply  the  United  States  with  the  Bible, 
and  as  our  population  has  greatly  increased  since  that  period,  it  behooves  the  auxili- 
aries in  every  section  of  the  country  to  commence  a  second  supply,  and  prosecute  the 
same  with  vigor." — Ed. 

I  had  no  expectation  of  appearing  in  this  place  as  the  advocate 
even  of  such  a  cause  as  that  of  the  American  Bible  Society.  The 
only  reason  why  I  feel  reluctant  to  do  so  is,  that  the  abundant 
occupation  imposed  on  me  by  my  official  duty  has  prevented  me 
from  bestowing  any  thought  upon  the  subject  of  an  address  be- 
coming this  occasion.  I  had,  however,  agreed  to  second,  as  I 
now  very  cheerfully  do,  the  resolution  offered  by  the  reverend 
gentleman  who  has  just  taken  his  seat,  and  I  hope  that  measures 
may  be  taken  for  carrying  it  into  full  effect.  I  will  offer  to  the 
assembly  but  one  suggestion.  The  constitution  of  the  United 
States  established  a  republican  form  of  government  for  the  free 
people  of  this  Union ;  and  it  has  ordained  that  once  in  every  ten 
years  the  number  of  souls  under  the  protection  of  that  constitu- 
tion, and  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  freedom  wThich  it  secures, 
shall  be  ascertained,  in  order  that  their  political  rights  may  be 
secured,  and  that  each  portion  of  the  country  shall  enjoy  its  just 
and  proper  proportion  of  power.  I  know  not  how  long  a  repub- 
lican government  can  nourish  among  a  great  people  who  have 
not  the  Bible ;  the  experiment  has  never  been  tried :  but  this  I 
do  know,  that  the  existing  government  of  this  country  never 
could  have  had  existence  but  for  the  Bible.  And,  further,  I  do 
in  my  conscience  believe  that  if,  at  every  decade  of  years,  a  copy 
of  the  Bible  could  be  found  in  every  family  of  the  land,  its  repub- 
lican institutions  would  be  perpetual. 


224  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


SPEECH. 

CHERRY   VALLEY,   JULY  4,    1840. 

Introductory  Note. — The  centennial  celebration  of  the  town  of  Cherry  Valley,  Ot- 
sego county,  occurred  on  the  4th  of  July,  1840.  The  occasion  was  one  of  considerable 
interest,  and  was  observed  with  becoming  demonstrations  by  the  people  of  that  ancient 
town.  Addresses  were  made  by  Gov.  Seward,  Rev.  Dr.  Nott,  of  Union  College,  Hon. 
"William  W.  Campbell,  Judge  Hammond,  and  others.  Among  the  toasts  at  the  dinner 
was  the  following:  "Our  fellow-citizen,  William  H.  Seward,  Governor  of  this  State — 
of  the  Empire  State.  We  hail  his  appearance  on  an  occasion  so  interesting,  and  we 
appreciate  the  honor  he  does  us  by  becoming  our  guest.  No  higher  evidence  can  be 
furnished  of  exalted  talents  and  distinguished  personal  merit,  than  an  election  to  the 
first  office  in  the  state  by  the  voluntary  suffrages  of  a  great,  free,  intelligent,  and  vir- 
tuous people."     In  reply  to  this  sentiment,  Gov.  Seward  made  the  following  speech: — 

Ours  is  a  country  in  which  all  that  is  old  is  yet  new.  We 
may  deceive  ourselves  with  the  belief  that  we  have  antiquity, 
but  we  nowhere  find  its  ruins.  I  have  been  impressed  with  this 
in  looking  upon  the  celebration  of  the  foundation  of  this  beautiful 
town,  while  all  around  me  are  the  evidences  of  youthfulness  and 
prosperity.  I  have  always  desired  to  visit  this  place  which  was 
so  long  an  outpost  of  civilization  in  the  western  forests.  Your 
annals  have  been  made  interesting  by  the  fortitude,  energy,  and 
enterprise  of  your  forefathers,  and  memorable  by  the  perils,  pri 
vations,  and  desolations  of  savage  warfare.  I  have  desired  to 
see  for  myself  the  valleys  of  Otsego,  through  which  the  Susque- 
hannah  extends  his  arms  and  entwines  his  lingers  with  the  tribu 
taries  of  the  Mohawk,  as  if  to  divert  that  gentle  river  from  its 
allegiance  to  the  Hudson.  If  I  could  have  chosen  the  time  for  a 
visit  here  it  would  have  been  on  this  occasion,  when  the  political 
excitement,  unavoidable  in  a  country  where  the  conduct  of  rulers 
is  watched  with  the  jealousy  of  freemen,  is  temporarily  allayed, 
and  the  discordant  elements  of  party  strife  are  hushed  under  the 
influence  of  recollections  of  a  common  ancestry,  and  common 
sufferings  in  the  cause  of  liberty. 

Your  gifted  orator  has  given  us  your  entire  local  and  domestic 
history.  Does  it  not  seem  strange  that  so  many  extraordinary 
changes,  so  many  important  events,  and  so  many  thrilling  inci- 


CENTENNIAL  SPEECH.  225 

dents  have  occurred  in  the  lapse  of  a  hundred  years.  A  hundred 
years !  how  short  a  period !  That  life  is  considered  short  which 
does  not  reach  fifty  years,  and  that  one  is  only  very  long  which 
comprises  a  hundred.  A  hundred  years!  A  hundred  times  this 
period  of  twelve  months  which  the  earth  requires  for  the  irriga- 
tion of  its  soil  and  the  production  of  its  fruits ;  a  hundred  times 
this  circle  of  three  hundred  and  sixty -five  days  —  days  that  so 
often  pass  like  a  dream,  and  are  unnoted  "  but  by  their  loss." 
Who,  that  places  a  tombstone  in  the  village  churchyard  to  the 
memory  of  a  departed  friend,  would  not  sigh  to  think  that  that 
monument  of  his  affection  will  fall  to  the  earth,  and  his  friend 
occupy  an  undistinguished  grave,  within  a  hundred  years  %  Who, 
that  establishes  a  constitution,  invents  an  engine,  teaches  a  new 
science,  or  founds  a  new  sect,  will  be  content  that  his  community, 
his  invention,  his  science,  or  his  creed,  shall  give  place  to  new 
discoveries  within  a  hundred  years?  Yet  a  hundred  years  is  no 
unimportant  portion  of  time.  It  includes  the  periods  of  four  gen- 
erations. In  a  single  century  four  thousand  millions  of  human 
beings  appear  on  the  earth,  act  their  busy  parts,  and  sink  into- 
its  peaceful  bosom.  A  little  more  than  half  that  period  carries- 
us  back  to  the  time  when  this  great  and  free  empire,  now  re- 
spected in  every  land,  had  no  place  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  Only  a  hundred  times  has  the  scythe  passed  over  this 
valley  since  your  ancestors  pursued  their  weary  way  up  the  Mo- 
hawk and  over  these  hills,  and  planted  here  the  first  settlement 
of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  west  of  the  Hudson.  They  found  the  Six 
Nations  here  as  confident  of  perpetual  enjoyment  of  this  fair 
land  as  we  now  are.  And  yet  so  soon  the  tide  of  immigration! 
has  flowed  over  this  valley,  and  filled  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio,  and! 
the  Wabash,  and  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Missouri  —  and  now 
scarcely  the  name  of  the  Six  Nations  remains !  Only  twice  a 
hundred  years  have  elapsed  since  the  first  navigator  entered  the 
bay  of  New  York,  and  not  four  centuries  have  passed  since  Co- 
lumbus astonished  the  world  with  the  discovery  of  this  great  con- 
tinent. It  is  only  ten  centuries  since  all  Europe,  moved  by  wild 
fanaticism,  poured  her  embattled  hosts  upon  the  fields  of  Pales- 
tine ;  and  less  than  sixty  times  a  hundred  years,  according  to  an 
accustomed  chronology,  carry  us  back  to  the  epoch  when  there 
was  no  time,  nor  light,  nor  life,  nor  earth,  nor  heavens  —  and 
God  said,  '  Let  all  these  be,'  and  they  were- 
Yol.  III.— 15 


226  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

We  have  reviewed  the  record  of  the  last  hundred  years  con- 
cerning the  inhabitants  of  this  beautiful  valley.  What  is  its  more 
general  history,  and  what  is  its  promise  of  the  future  ?  Alas  that 
it  must  be  said  that,  although  the  spirit  of  Christianity  has  diffused 
a  wider  and  warmer  influence  than  ever  before,  yet  the  last  cen- 
tury, like  the  fifty-seven  that  preceded  it,  has  been  filled  with  the 
calamities  of  mankind !  It  dawned  upon  one  broad  scene  of  war, 
extending  throughout  England,  Russia,  Prussia,  Poland,  Spain, 
Bavaria,  Sardinia,  and  France.  Through  a  period  of  eight}7  years, 
with  the  occasional  intervals  of  partial  peace,  the  fires  of  war 
burned  over  the  continent  of  Europe,  after  extending  desolation 
into  Asia,  Africa,  and  even  into  this  new  and  remote  continent, 
until,  within  our  own  recollection,  the  world's  great  disturber  was 
confined  on  the  rock  of  St.  Helena,  and  the  exhausted  nations 
found  repose  and  peace.  No  nation  has  escaped  the  evils  of  war, 
and  few  have  been  exempt  from  revolution.  Hostile  armies  have 
overrun  France,  Holland,  Saxony,  Belgium,  Bavaria,  Sardinia, 
Spain,  Portugal,  Italy,  Austria,  Hungary,  Prussia,  and  other  Ger- 
man states,  Poland,  Russia,  and  Switzerland,  Egypt  and  Persia, 
and  all  the  states  of  North  and  South  America.  Some  maintained 
their  sovereignty,  some  received  their  independence,  but  others 
have  gone  down  for  ever.  No  wonder  that  the  pious  and  benev- 
olent poet  exclaimed  — 

"My  ear  is  pained, 
My  soul  is  sick,  with  every  day's  report 
Of  wrong  and  outrage  with  which  earth  is  filled  1" 

The  occupation  of  man  has  been  war,  his  ambition  conquest,  his 
enjoyment  rapine  and  bloodshed. 

Yet  dark  as  the  picture  of  the  last  century  seems,  it  is  relieved 
by  lights  more  cheering  than  any  that  has  shone  upon  our  race  in 
the  previous  course  of  time.  The  human  mind  has  advanced  wTith 
unparalleled  rapidity  in  discoveries  in  science  and  the  arts.  Civ- 
ilization has  been  carried  into  new  regions,  and  has  distributed 
more  equally  than  ever  heretofore  the  enjoyments  and  comforts 
of  life.  The  education  which  a  hundred  years  ago  was  a  privilege 
of  the  few,  is  now  acknowledged  to  be  the  right  of  all.  What 
were  luxuries  a  hundred  years  ago,  are  common  enjoyments  now. 
A  renovating  spirit  is  abroad  in  the  world.  The  slave-trade,  a 
hundred  years  ago  regarded  as  lawful  commerce  by  all  Christian 
nations,  is  now  denounced  as  piracy  by  most  civilized  states,  and 


CENTENNIAL  SPEECH;  227 

the  rights  of  man  are  secured  by  benign  and  wholesome  laws.  All 
expense  and  delay  in  passage  and  transportation  from  .place  to 
place  are  an  incumbrance  upon  human  labor.  Yet  it  seems  as  if 
it  were  but  yesterday  since  we  learned  that  burden  might  be  more 
■cheaply  carried  on  parallel  iron  rails  than  on  the  rough  and  un- 
equal surface  of  the  ground,  and  now  railroads  are  common  thor- 
oughfares, and  animal  force  is  too  feeble  an  agent  for  locomotion. 
Those  who  reflect  upon  the  rapidity  with  which  intelligence,  so- 
•cial,  commercial,  and  political,  is  diffused  throughout  our  country 
and  the  civilized  world,  will  hardly  believe  that  a  hundred  years 
ago  scarcely  a  dozen  vessels  arrived  in  all  our  ports  from  Europe, 
and  that  seventy-six  years  ago  a  mail-coach  was  unknown.  The 
object  of  all  government  is  the  welfare  of  the  governed,  yet  it  is 
only  sixty-five  years  since  this  model  of  practical,  permanent,  and 
free  republican  government  was  set  up  for  the  maintenance  of 
American  liberty,  and  to  animate  the  hopes  and  efforts  of  man- 
kind. The  religion  of  the  cross  is  carried  further  and  more  effec- 
tively now  than  under  the  banner  of  Constantine,  or  even  the 
preaching  of  the  apostles.  The  philosophy  of  Bacon,  and  the  New- 
tonian and  Copernican  systems,  were  taught  a  hundred  years  ago  ; 
and  alchemy,  after  long  abuses  of  the  credulity  of  mankind,  had 
introduced  the  elements  of  chemistry :  but  the  practical  advan- 
tages resulting  from  all  these  sciences  have  been  realized  chiefly 
within  a  hundred  years. 

If  the  principles  of  civil  liberty  are  imperfectly  understood 
now,  what  could  have  been  the  condition  of  human  rights  before 
the  day  of  Sicard,  La  Fayette,  Wilberforce,  Paine,  Jefferson,  Ham- 
ilton, and  Washington  ?  How  obscure  must  have  been  the  sci- 
ence of  laws  before  Montesquieu,  Puffendorf,  Blackstone,  Ben- 
tham,  and  Livingston,  reduced  it  to  form  and  symmetry  !  How 
limited  would  be  our  knowledge  of  history  if  we  were  deprived 
of  the  writings  of  Rollin,  Robertson,  Leland,  Hume,  Gillies,  Lit- 
tleton, Priestley,  Marshall,  Russel,  Roscoe,  Gibbon,  Hallam,  and 
Raynal !  How  has  the  human  mind  been  enlightened  in  that  most 
mysterious  of  all  mysteries,  itself,  by  the  philosophy  of  Stewart, 
Reid,  and  Browne  !  How  have  theology  and  moral  science  been 
enriched  by  Edwards,  Jenyns,  Paley,  Zimmerman,  Johnson,  and 
Ferguson !  In  natural  philosophy,  what  a  blank  would  be  pro- 
duced by  striking  out  the  discoveries  of  Herschel,  Halle,  Frank- 
lin, Davy,  Rumford,  and  Delonti !     How  profitless  would  be  our 


228  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

researches  in  natural  history  without  Linnaeus  and  Buffon  for  our 
guides !  What  would  we  have  known  of  political  economy  but 
for  the  writings  of  Mai  thus,  Smith,  and  Say !  We  can  scarcely 
conceive  of  literature  destitute  of  the  works  of  Cowper,  Pope, 
Thomson,  Beattie,  Gray,  Gray,  Goldsmith,  Johnson,  M'Pherson,. 
Roscoe,  Scott,  Burns,  Goethe,  Byron,  and  Moore. .  In  even  such 
a  superficial  review  as  this  of  the  contributions  of  the  last  century 
to  the  knowledge,  virtue,  and  happiness  of  our  race,  we  forget 
that  the  human  mind  has  been  two  thirds  of  the  whole  period 
stretched  in  extreme  tension  in  the  excitement  of  war,  and  that 
what  it  has  accomplished  in  the  way  of  science  and  art  has  been 
done  in  its  occasional  seasons  of  repose  from  the  study  and  oc- 
cupation of  arms ;  that  what  has  been  expended  in  establishing- 
schools,  colleges,  and  seminaries,  and  in  making  roads  and  canals,, 
has  been  only  what  has  been  saved  from  the  prodigality  of  war. 
Happy,  thrice  happy  will  it  be  for  us  and  for  mankind  if  we  ex- 
tract from  the  history  of  the  last  century  its  true  philosophy. 
Among  its  instructions  are  of  a  certainty  these  truths :  that  peace 
is  indispensable  to  the  improvement  and  happiness  of  man,  that 
improvement  is  his  highest  duty,  and  arts,  not  arms,  his  right  oc- 
cupation ;  that  republican  government,  resting  upon  equal  and 
universal  suffrage,  can  only  secure  an  exemption  from  the  ambi- 
tion of  conquest  and  the  popular  discontents  which  involve  nations 
in  foreign  wars  and  civil  commotions ;  that  a  republican  govern- 
ment, resting  upon  universal  and  equal  suffrage,  can  only  be 
maintained  in  a  community  where  education  is  universally  en- 
joyed, and  where  internal  improvements  bind  together  the  vari- 
ous portions  of  a  country  in  a  community  of  interest  and  affection. 
Let  us,  then,  extend  our  system  of  schools  and  our  churches,  and 
take  care  that  every  child  in  the  state,  whatever  be  his  faith,  his 
language,  his  condition,  or  his  circumstances,  or  those  of  his  pa- 
rents, is  brought  to  the  instruction  of  these  schools  and  churches. 
Let  ns  do  this,  and  let  us  put  on  steam  upon  the  land,  and  steam 
upon  the  river  and  the  sea,  and  the  glorious  career  upon  which 
our  country  has  just  entered  will  continue  to  be  more  successful 
and  more  glorious  still.  Those  who  shall  celebrate  the  next  cen- 
tennial anniversary  will  bless  our  memories,  and  the  great  pre- 
diction of  our  religion  will  no  longer  seem  apocryphal,  that  a  time 
is  coming  when  the  nations  shall  live  in  peace,  and  the  knowledge 
of  the  Lord  shall  extend  over  the  whole  earth. 


ST.  PATRICK'S  DINNER.  229 


ST.   PATRICK'S   DINNER. 

ALBANY,   MARCH   17,    1842. 

Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen: 

I  give  you  my  grateful  acknowledgments  for  this  generous 
reception.  I  know  now,  if  I  did  not  before,  what  an  Irish  wel- 
come is.  Gentlemen,  it  was  once  my  good  fortune  to  sojourn  for 
.a  brief  period  in  your  native  country.  I  saw  the  features  of  that 
land  which  you  are  celebrating,  and  I  witnessed  the  degradation 
and  injuries  which  call  forth  your  sympathies  and  the  indignation 
of  your  countrymen.  Educated  as  I  had  been  at  a  period  when 
the  unsuccessful  but  glorious  effort  of  the  patriots  of  IT 97  for 
the  deliverance  of  Ireland  was  fresh  in  the  recollection  of  the 
American  people,  and  when  the  universal  sentiment  of  our  coun- 
try was  imbued  with  sympathy  for  the  Irish  exiles  who  had  found 
an  asylum  among  us,  I  sought  out  every  spot  in  Dublin  which 
was  marked  in  the  history  of  the  insurrection.  I  found  the  son 
of  one  of  the  jurors  by  whom  Robert  Emmet  was  convicted,  and 
listened  with  thrilling  interest  to  the  story  of  the  remorse  that 
juror  suffered  in  after-life.  I  traced  the  path  of  the  patriot  to 
his  prison,  and  to  the  court,  and  marked  the  spot  on  which  he 
stood  when  he  addressed  that  fearful  reply  to  Lord  Norbury,  and 
I  visited  the  place  of  his  execution. 

Gentlemen,  the  English  are  in  many  respects  a  wise  as  they 
are  a  great  and  powerful  nation.  They  have  obtained  an  empire 
and  ascendency  such  as  Rome  once  enjoyed.  As  the  Tiber  once 
bore,  the  Thames  now  bears,  the  tribute  of  many  nations,  and  the 
English  name  is  now  feared  and  respected  as  once  the  Roman 
was,  in  every  part  of  the  world.  But  Rome  waged  no  war  with 
the  customs,  the  manners,  or  the  religions,  of  the  countries  she 
subdued.  She  derived  wealth  from  conquered  nations,  but  she 
left  them  their  institutions  and  their  altars.  Her  eagles  were 
the  couriers  of  her  arts.     She  did  not  hesitate  to  adopt  their  phil- 


230  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

osophy  and  their  religion,  when  they  were  better  than  her  own. 
Thus,  while  the  Roman  conquests  were  extended  from  the  Pala- 
tine hill  over  a  great  part  of  the  known  world,  they  were  formed 
into  one  mighty  and  consolidated  empire. 

England  has  been  alike  ambitious  and  alike  successful.  Eng- 
land, too,  is  prosperous,  and  her  people  are  contented  and  loyal. 
But  contentment  and  loyalty  have  not  been  universal  in  the  prov- 
inces and  dependencies  of  the  English  government.  France  was 
lost  almost  as  soon  as  won.  Scotland  has  been  reconciled  to  tho 
supremacy  of  England  only  after  centuries  of  desolating  war. 
The  most  prosperous  of  the  English  colonies  on  this  continent, 
now  constituting  this  great  nation,  cast  off  their  allegiance  in 
their  earliest  maturity.  Other  colonies  are  now  retained  in  sub- 
jection by  the  constant  exhibition  of  military  power.  The  deso- 
lation which  has  followed  English  conquest  in  the  East  Indies 
has  been  lamented  throughout  the  civilized  world.  Ireland  has 
been  deprived  of  her  independence,  without  being  admitted  to  an 
equality  with  her  sister-island,  and  discontent  has  marked  the  his- 
tory of  her  people  ever  since  the  conquest.  Yet  the  Irish  are  a 
just,  a  generous,  and  in  temperament  and  native  disposition  pe- 
culiarly a  cheerful  and  happy  people. 

What  other  explanation  of  this  can  there  be,  but  that  England 
has  not  the  generosity  and  magnanimity  of  the  ancient  Romans? 
She  derives  wealth  from  her  dependencies,  but  lavishes  it  upon 
objects  unworthy  of  herself.  She  achieves  victories  with  their 
aid,  but  appropriates  the  spoils  and  trophies  exclusively  to  her- 
self. For  centuries  she  refused  to  commit  trusts  to  Irishmen,  or 
confer  privileges  upon  them,  unless  they  would  abjure  the  reli- 
gion of  their  ancestors  :  — 

"Unprized  were  her  sons  till  they  learned  to  betray; 
Undistinguished  they  lived,  if  they  shamed  not  their  sires!" 

Who  can  be  surprised,  then,  that  Irishmen  forsake  their  own 
country,  and  seek  freedom  and  equality  here?  Who  will  wonder 
that  the  liberty  they  enjoy  renders  stronger  than  ever  their  sym- 
pathy for  their  brethren  in  Ireland  ? 

The  government  which  would  secure  loyalty,  must  give  lib- 
erty. 


CROTON  CELEBRATION. 


CROTON-WATEK   CELEBKATIOK 

NEW   YORK,   OCTOBER   14,    1842. 

Mr.  Mayor  and  Fellow-Cittzens  : 

Accept  my  thanks  for  this  flattering,  this  generous  welcome. 
To  be  thus  remembered  at  a  moment  like  this,  amid  the  heartfelt 
rejoicings,  not  only  of  the  thousands  who  dwell  in  this  proud  city, 
but  of  the  multitudes  who  have  poured  in  from  the  surrounding 
communities,  demands  and  receives  my  warmest  gratitude. 

You  have  well  observed,  sir,  that  these  multitudes  have  joined 
in  this  majestic  pageant  not  as  curious  spectators,  but  rather  as 
joint  owners  of  the  great  work  whose  completion  we  this  clay 
celebrate.  It  is  indeed  the  triumph  not  only  of  the  city,  but  of 
the  country  at  large.  Its  results  reach  far  beyond  the  narrow 
confines  of  the  metropolis.  An  achievement  like  this,  which 
casts  a  mantle  of  protection  over  the  commercial  storehouse  of 
the  continent,  may  indeed  be  a  subject  of  felicitation  for  the 
whole  American  people. 

We  have  this  day  enjoyed  the  spectacle,  alike  rare  and  sublime, 
of  a  vast  community  uniting  in  one  common  emotion  called  forth 
by  the  performance  of  a  great  act  in  the  mighty  drama  of  a  na- 
tion's history.  If  the  immortal  bard  spoke  truly  of  individual 
man  when  he  said — 

"All  the  world's  a  stage, 
And  all  the  men  and  women  merely  players; 
They  have  their  exits  and  their  entrances, 
And  each  man  in  time  plays  many  parts"  — 

how  much  more  august  the  spectacle  to  him  who  meditates  on 
social  man  acting  his  various  parts  upon  "  the  broad  and  univer- 
sal theatre  of  nations,"  and  amid  the  shifting  scenes  of  human 
society !     And  such  a  spectacle  is  this  day  presented.     We  ctde- 

Note. — The  introduction  of  Croton  water  into  the  city  of  New  York  was  the  occa- 
sion of  one  of  the  most  enthusiastic  demonstrations  of  public  rejoicing  ever  witnessed 
in  that  city. — Ed. 


232  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

brate  a  work  commenced  and  completed,  indeed,  within  our  day 
and  generation,  but  extending  its  results  far  into  the  lengthening 
vista  of  succeeding  ages.  I  will  not  attempt,  now  to  embody  the 
emotions  excited  by  the  event,  nor  even  to  depict  the  feelings  of 
pleasure  awakened  by  the  physical  change  that  has  stolen  over 
the  city  of  our  pride  and  affection.  A  new  feature  has  been 
stamped  upon  the  face  of  our  metropolis.  But  yesterday  it  was 
the  dusty  trading-mart,  unattractive  and  unadorned.  To-day  the 
pure  mountain-stream  gushes  through  its  streets,  and  sparkles  in 
its  squares.  To  the  noble  rivers  with  which  it  was  encircled  by 
Nature,  is  now  added  the  limpid  stream,  brought  hither  by  art ; 
until,  in  the  words  of  the  Roman  poet,  alike  descriptive  and  pro- 
pi  letic,  her  citizens  exult  — 

"inter  flumina  nota 
Et  fontes  sacros." 

But  it  is  not  for  the  purpose  of  dwelling  upon  the  grandeur  of 
this  noble  work,  or  even  its  manifold  and  beneficial  influences 
upon  the  health  and  happiness  of  a  vast  population,  that  I  have 
risen,  but  rather  to  draw  from  the  occasion  whatever  of  instruc- 
tion it  suggests. 

I  would,  then,  venture  to  remark,  that  this  stupendous  aque- 
duct and  these  splendid  fountains,  so  worthy  of  being  enjoyed, 
are  equally  worthy  of  being  paid  for.*  They  owe  their  existence 
to  that  mighty  engine  of  modern  civilization,  public  credit.  With 
borrowed  money  they  have  been  built.  Is  there  one  among  us 
"  with  soul  so  dead"  as  to  doubt  that  this  debt  will  be  paid  to  the 
utmost  farthing?  Is  there  one  among  this  assembled  multitude 
who  would  enjoy  the  benefit,  yet  basely  shrink  from  the  burden? 
The  glorious  work  yet  remains  manfully  to  meet  and  punctually 
to  pay  the  debt  which  has  been  so  wisely,  so  beneficially  incurred. 
Who  will  venture  to  predict  that  this  sacred  duty  will  not  be 
fully  performed?  Who  can  believe  that  the  foul  blot  of  repudia- 
tion will  ever  come  upon  the  pure,  untarnished  credit  of  this  high- 
spirited  community?  Were  this  possible,  the  massive  walls  and 
lofty  arches  of  this  noble  structure,  now  the  city's  pride,  would 
stand  as  monuments  only  of  her  degradation  and  shame.     It  is 

*  At  this  period,  it  will  be  remembered,  the  doctrine  of  repudiation  was  openly  pro- 
claimed from  high  quarters;  and  the  suspension  of  the  public  works  of  the  state  (among 
which  was  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie  canal)  was  threatened,  and  eventually  accom- 
plished.— Ed. 


CROTON  CELEBRATION.  233 

not,  because  I  believe  it  possible  that  under  any  circumstances 
or  under  any  temptation  our  city  or  state  could  fail  for  a  moment 
to  maintain  unsullied  its  public  faith,  but.  rather  that  it  seems 
peculiarly  proper  on  this  occasion  of  rejoicing  to  declare  our  firm 
belief  that  the  debt  incurred  for  the  public  works,  not  only  of  this 
city  and  this  state,  but  of  all  the  American  communities  will  be, 
as  it  ought  to  be,  paid  to  the  utmost  farthing. 

It  is  true,  sir,  that  in  some  misguided  portions  of  our  country, 
breaches  of  public  faith  have  occurred,  injurious  to  the  national 
character,  and  dangerous  to  public  morals ;  but  I  can  not  doubt 
that  each  of  the  defaulting  communities  which  shall  steadily  and 
manfully  persevere  to  the  final  completion  of  its  works,  will  find 
in  the  resulting  benefits  ample  means  for  redeeming  the  faith 
plighted  to  the  public  creditor.  It  is  in  this  point  of  view  that 
the  completion  of  the  costly  structures  we  this  day  commemorate 
is  replete  with  encouragement  and  instruction.  Sir,  let  us  for  a 
moment  suppose  that  the  municipal  legislature,  after  incurring  a 
heavy  debt,  had,  in  a  moment  of  prejudice,  passion,  or  fear,  before 
the  completion  of  the  aqueduct,  suspended  its  further  construc- 
tion. Could  we  imagine  a  spectacle  more  degrading  than  the 
dismembered  work  lying  in  fragments  throughout  its  length  of 
forty  miles  from  the  Croton  lake  to  the  confines  of  the  city? 
Who  could  then  be  found  "so  poor  as  to  do  it  reverence,"  and 
who  so  sternly  virtuous  as  to  submit  without  complaint  to  the 
taxation  which  such  folly  would  render  necessary  ?  Let  us,  then, 
adopt  as  a  cardinal  maxim  in  the  conduct  of  these  great  enter- 
prises, that  benefits  must  be  made  to  keep  pace  with  burdens  — 
in  a  word,  that  works  once  commenced  must  be  steadily  and  per- 
severingly  prosecuted ;  and  we  shall  thus  afford  the  surest  guar- 
anty for  the  preservation  of  public  faith. 

The  Croton  aqueduct  is  but  one  of  many  works  of  physical  im- 
provement constituting  portions  of  an  extensive  system,  com- 
menced in  a  season  of  great  prosperity,  and  all,  like  this,  tending 
to  develop  the  resources  and  promote  the  honor  and  welfare  of 
the  country.  Why  is  it  that,  while  public  confidence  has  for- 
saken all  others,  it  has  crowned  the  consummation  of  this?  Can 
the  cause  be  mistaken?  Is  it  not  that  enlightened  forecast,  and 
steady,  unflinching  perseverance,  have  carried  this  work  to  its 
destined  ends?  The  mingled  emotions  of  pride  and  joy  which 
have  filled  the  bosoms  of  the  vast  multitude  this  day  assembled, 


234  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

afford  but  a  foretaste  of  the  feeling  which  will  be  kindled  when 
our  whole  system  of  public  works  shall  be  brought  into  benefi- 
cial operation.  With  this  bright  example  to  encourage  and  lead 
us  onward,  shall  we  be  told  that  we  have  not  the  ability  to  pro- 
ceed further  ?     Who  dare  say  it  ? 

Away,  then,  with  unmanly  despondency  !  Our  state  possesses 
resources  and  revenues,  sure  and  unfailing,  equal  to  the  support 
of  her  government  and  the  payment  of  all  her  existing  debts ; 
and  I  here  proclaim  that,  without  embarrassment  or  cause  for 
embarrassment,  she  could,  with  the  expenditure  of  a  sum  little 
exceeding  that  which  the  city  of  New  York  has  expended  on  this 
aqueduct,  complete  to  the  utmost  mile  all  her  unfinished  canals 
and  railroads.  If  the  city,  with  three  hundred  and  twelve  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  can  expend  on  a  single  undertaking  twelve  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  can  not  the  state  of  New  York,  with  two  and  a 
half  millions  of  people,  and  comprehending  within  its  limits  this 
very  city,  sustain  the  further  burden  of  seventeen  millions  re- 
quired to  finish  the  works  now  in  progress  ?  The  proposition  de- 
monstrates itself.  We  want  only  time,  and  not  much  of  that. 
Let  us  dispel,  then,  the  clouds  which  have  obscured  our  vision, 
look  at  the  brightening  sky,  and  put  forth  every  energy,  and  sub- 
mit to  every  burden,  even  to  each  citizen's  taking  the  spade  in 
his  own  hands,  to  complete  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad,  the 
two  unfinished  lateral  canals,  and  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie 
canal. 

One  more  reflection,  and  I  shall  have  done.  This  aqueduct, 
like  all  our  other  public  works,  was  undertaken  not  only  for  the 
present  but  for  the  future.  Its  capacity  is  graduated,  not  to  sup- 
ply the  wants  of  the  present  population  of  the  city,  but  to  meet 
the  exigencies  of  the  million  who  within  half  a  century  may  be 
congregated  upon  Manhattan  island.  Shall  that  million  be  al- 
lowed to  plant  here  their  hopes  and  their  homes?  That  result 
depends  on  the  completion  of  the  public  works  of  this  state  and 
those  of  the  communities  with  which  we  are  connected.  There 
are  other  Atlantic  ports  besides  New  York,  other  rivers  besides 
the  Hudson,  other  canals  and  railroads  besides  our  own,  other 
governments  besides  the  city  councils  I  address  and  the  legisla- 
ture of  our  state ;  and  although  the  trade  of  the  continent  now 
flows  in  our  channels,  it  has  not  worn  them  so  deeply  that  it  may 
not  yet  be  diverted. 


CROTON  CELEBBATION.  235 

Believe  me,  fellow-citizens,  that  I  speak  for  no  temporary  effect, 
and  with  no  personal  motive.  I  have  reason  to  love  the  state  of 
New  York,  not  merely  like  all  her  sons,  but  I  owe  her  a  debt 
that  few  are  permitted  to  incur.  If,  short  of  heaven,  I  have  an 
object  paramount  to  her  welfare  and  honor,  I  know  it  not ;  and 
if  I  have  a  thought,  feeling,  or  emotion,  inconsistent  with  her  best 
and  highest  interests,  may  this  right  arm  drop  off,  and  may  this- 
tongue  cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth ! 

With  pride  which  none  but  a  citizen  of  the  state  of  New  York 
can  know,  I  offer  to  this  vast  assembly  this  sentiment:  — 

The  city  of  New  York — One  American  community  which, 
through  a  trying  crisis,  and  amid  discouraging  embarrassments, 
has  prosecuted  the  system  of  physical  improvement,  at  the  same- 
time  maintaining  its  credit  and  completing  its  works. 


236  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


ADDKESS   TO   JOHN   QUINCY  ADAMS. 

AUBURN",    1843. 

Introductory  Note. — In  the  summer  of  1843,  John  Quincy  Adams  visited  the  state 
of  New  York.  On  his  return  from  Niagara  falls,  he  passed  through  Buffalo,  Rochester, 
Auburn,  Utiea,  and  Albany.  He  had  designed  to  devote  only  four  or  five  days  to  this 
journey,  with  the  hope  of  thereby  recruiting  his  health,  already  much  impaired  by  his 
arduous  labors  in  the  public  service.  But  his  progress  was  everywhere  arrested  by 
the  spontaneous  and  enthusiastic  demonstrations  of  the  public.  Greetings  such  as  no 
man,  except  La  Fayette,  ever  received,  met  him  and  accompanied  him  at  every  step 
of  his  journey.  The  people  forgot  their  party  ties,  and  received  him  with  unmistake- 
ble  evidences  of  respect  and  veneration.  The  whole  country  sympathized  in  those 
outbursts  of  popular  gratitude.  After  suffering  numerous  detentions  on  the  route,  he 
arrived  in  Auburn  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and  was  escorted  to  the  residence 
of  Mr.  Seward  by  an  immense  concourse  of  people.  The  next  day  he  addressed  the 
assembled  multitude  in  reply  to  the  following  address.  It  is  said  that  Mr.  Adams  was 
deeply  affected  by  Mr.  Seward's  speech,  as  a  more  than  ordinary  feeling  of  mutual 
respect  had  always  existed  between  them. — Ed. 

Sir:  I  am  charged  with  the  very  honorable  and  most  agreea- 
ble duty  of  expressing  to  you  the  reverence  and  affectionate  es- 
teem of  my  fellow-citizens  assembled  in  your  presence. 

A  change  has  come  over  the  spirit  of  your  journey  since  your 
steps  have  turned  toward  your  ancestral  seaside  home.  An  ex- 
cursion to  invigorate  health  impaired  by  labors  too  arduous  for 
~age  in  the  public  councils,  and  expected  to  be  quiet  and  contem- 
plative, has  become  one  of  fatigue  and  excitement.  Kumors  of 
your  advance  escape  before  you,  and  a  happy  and  grateful  com- 
munity rise  up  in  their  clustering  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  im- 
pede your  way  with  demonstrations  of  respect  and  kindness,  and 
•convert  your  unpretending  journey  into  a  triumphal  progress. 
Such  honors  frequently  attend  public  functionaries,  and  such  a 
one  may  sometimes  find  it  difficult  to  determine  how  much  of 
the  homage  he  receives  is  paid  to  his  own  worth,  how  much  pro- 
ceeds from  the  habitual  reverence  of  good  republican  citizens  to 
constituted  elective  authority,  and  how  much  from  the  spirit  of 
venal  adulation. 

Fou,  sir,  labor  under  no  such  embarrassment.  The  office  you 
hold,  though  honorable,  is  purely  legislative,  and  such  as  we  can 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  23  7 

bestow  by  our  immediate  suffrage  on  one  of  ourselves.  You  con- 
ferred personal  benefits  sparingly  when  you  held  the  patronage 
of  the  nation.  That  patronage  you  have  relinquished,  and  can 
never  regain.  Your  hands  will  be  uplifted  often  during  your 
remaining  days,  to  invoke  blessings  on  your  country,  but  never 
again  to  distribute  honors  or  rewards  among  your  countrymen. 
The  homage  paid  you,  dear  sir,  is  sincere,  for  it  has  its  sources  in 
the  just  sentiments  and  irrepressible  affections  of  a  free  people, 
their  love  of  truth,  their  admiration  of  wisdom,  their  reverence 
for  virtue,  and  their  gratitude  for  beneficence. 

Nor  need  you  fear  that  enthusiasm  exaggerates  your  title  to- 
the  public  regard.  Your  fellow-citizens,  in  spite  of  political  pru- 
dence, could  not  avoid  honoring  you  on  grounds  altogether  irre- 
spective of  personal  merit.  John  Adams,  who  has  gone  to  receive 
the  reward  of  the  just,  was  one  of  the  most  efficient  and  illustri- 
ous founders  of  this  empire,  and  afterward  its  chief  ruler.  The 
son  of  such  a  father  would,  in  any  other  age,  and  even  in  this 
age  in  any  other  country  than  this,  have  been  entitled  by  birth 
alone  to  a  sceptre.  We  not  merely  deny  hereditary  claims  to  civil 
trust,  but  regard  even  hereditary  distinction  with  jealousy.  And 
this  circumstance  enhances  justly  the  estimate  of  your  worth. 
For  when  before  has  it  happened  that,  in  such  a  condition  of  so- 
ciety, the  son  has,  by  mere  civic  achievements,  attained  the  emi- 
nence of  such  a  sire,  and  effaced  remembrance  of  birth  by  justly- 
acquired  renown? 

The  hand  we  now  so  eagerly  grasp  was  pressed  in  confidence 
and  friendship  by  the  Father  of  our  country.  The  wreath  we 
place  on  your  honored  brow  received  its  earliest  leaves  from  the 
hand  of  Washington.  We  can  not  expect,  with  the  agency  of 
free  and  universal  suffrage,  to  be  always  governed  by  the  wise 
and  good.  But  surely  your  predecessors  in  the  chief  magistracy 
were  men  such  as  never  before  successively  wielded  power  in 
any  state.  They  differed  in  policy,  as  they  must :  and  yet  through- 
out their  several  dynasties,  without  any  sacrifice  of  personal  in- 
dependence, and  while  passing  from  immature  youth  to  ripened 
age>  y°u  were  counsellor  and  minister  to  them  all.  We  seem, 
therefore,  in  this  interview  with  you,  to  come  into  the  presence 
of  our  departed  chiefs.  The  majestic  shade  of  Washington  looks 
down  upon  us ;  we  hear  the  bold  and  manly  eloquence  of  the 
elder  Adams ;  and  we  listen  to  the  voices  of  the  philosophic  and 


238  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

sagacious  Jefferson,  the  refined  and  modest  Madison,  and  the 
generous  and  faithful  Monroe. 

A  life  of  such  eminent  patriotism  and  fidelity  found  its  proper 
reward  in  your  elevation  to  the  eminence  from  which  you  had 
justly  derived  so  many  honors.  Although  your  administration 
of  the  government  is  yet  too  recent  for  impartial  history  or  un- 
bounded eulogy,  our  grateful  remembrance  of  it  is  evinced  by 
the  congratulations  you  now  receive  from  your  fellow-citizens. 

But  your  claims  to  the  veneration  of  your  countrymen  do  not 
end  here.  Your  predecessors  descended  from  the  chief  magis- 
tracy to  enjoy  in  repose  and  tranquillity  honors  even  greater  than 
those  which  belonged  to  that  eminent  station.  It  was  reserved 
for  you  to  illustrate  the  important  truths  that  offices  and  trusts 
are  not  the  end  of  public  service,  but  are  merely  incidents  in  the 
life  of  the  true  American  citizen ;  that  duties  remain  when  the 
highest  trust  is  resigned ;  and  that  there  is  a  scope  for  a  pure  and 
benevolent  ambition  beyond  even  the  presidency  of  the  United 
States  of  America. 

You  have  devoted  the  energies  of  a  mind  unperverted,  the 
learning  and  experience  acquired  through  more  than  sixty  years, 
and  even  the  influence  and  fame  derived  from  your  high  career 
of  public  service,  to  the  great  cause  of  universal  liberty.  The 
praises  we  bestow  are  already  echoed  back  to  us  by  voices  which 
come  rich  and  full  across  the  Atlantic,  hailing  you  as  the  inde- 
fatigable champion  of  humanity  —  not  that  humanity  which  em- 
braces a  single  race  or  clime,  but  that  humanity  which  regards 
the  whole  family  of  man.  Such  salutations  as  these  can  not  be 
mistaken.  They  come  not  from  your  cotemporaries,  for  they 
are  gone.  You  are  not  of  this  generation,  but  of  the  past,  spared 
to  hear  the  voice  of  posterity.  The  greetings  you  receive  come 
up  from  the  dark  and  uncertain  future.  They  are  the  whisper- 
ings of  posthumous  fame  —  fame  which  impatiently  awaits  your 
departure,  and  which,  spreading  wider,  and  growing  more  and 
more  distinct,  will  award  to  John  Quincy  Adams  a  name  to  live 
with  that  of  Washington. 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  £3<> 

S  OF   THE  *' 

MASS    MEETING    OF    WHIGS. 

AUBURN,   FEBRUARY  22,    1844. 

Fkllow-Citizens  : 

Every  man's  memory  is  a  depository  into  which  no  other  man 
can  look ;  a  depository  of  pleasures  and  pains,  joys  and  sorrows, 
precious  to  the  owner,  because  they  are  all  his  own.  These  rise 
unbidden  whenever  the  mind  is  excited,  and  with  them  come  up 
from  the  heart,  fears,  hopes,  and  affections,  as  peculiar  as  the 
character  and  fortunes  of  the  individuals  to  whom  they  belong. 
After  an  interval  of  almost  seven  years,  I  am  again  in  a  general 
gathering  of  my  old  political  and  personal  friends.  A  thousand 
well-remembered  voices  call  me  to  resume  long-suspended  duties ; 
a  thousand  faces  beam  upon  me  with  all  that  ancient  kindness 
which  always  cheered  me,  when,  if  omsustained,  I  should  have 
fallen  by  the  way,  and  the  memory  of  which,  in  all  my  wander- 
ings, never  failed  to  bring  me  home  at  last.  Thanks  to  you, 
whigs,  neighbors!  success  and  triumph  crown  your  labors  for 
our  country's  welfare  ;  peace  and  happiness,  reverence  and  honor, 
attend  you  in  your  families  and  homes  —  such  homes  as  none  but 
enlightened  American  freemen  ever  had,  but  such,  if  whig  prin- 
ciples continue  to  flourish,  as  shall  be  enjoyed  throughout  our 
whole  country,  and  the  world. 

A  return  to  the  field  of  popular  political  labor  is  not  altogether 
without  embarrassments.  Warren  Hastings  rose  from  a  clerk's 
desk  in  a  counting-room,  to  be  governor-general  of  British  India. 
The  native  tribes  combined  against  him ;  his  own  government 
not  only  withheld  supplies,  but  increased  their  exactions ;  and 
sedition  in  his  councils  enfeebled  his  administration  and  strength- 
ened the  public  enemy.  But  he  triumphed,  though  sometimes 
employing  means  which  virtue  and  humanity  could  not  approve. 
He  extended  the  British  empire  further  toward  the  rising  sun 
than  even  English  ambition  had  dreamed  of.  He  established  a 
lasting  peace,  and  introduced  the  arts  into  British  India,  and  re- 


240  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

turned  to  England  covered  with  the  praises  of  his  countrymen, 
and  revered  and  beloved  even  by  the  nation  he  had  subjected. 
Yet  he  was  impeached  by  the  British  commons,  and  not  until 
after  a  seven  years'  trial,  acquitted.  And  this  happened,  because 
the  merchant's  clerk,  who  had  wielded  more  than  oriental  power 
could  not  learn  the  politics  of  his  native  land.  I  have  wielded 
no  such  power,  had  no  such  struggles,  attained  no  such  honors. 
I  have  had  your  principles  for  my  chart,  and  I  trust  have  lost 
none  of  the  sympathies  of  citizenship.  To  those  sympathies,  and 
to  the  feelings  of  gratitude  which  now  constitute  the  chief  pleas- 
ures of  life,  I  trust  for  my  guidance  in  the  performance  of  such 
duties,  now  and  henceforth,  as  you  shall  command. 

The  two  great  political  parties  occupy  equal  vantage  ground. 
Neither  has  announced  its  leader,  and  yet  the  leader  of  each  is 
known,  and  awaits  only  the  ceremony  of  announcement  to  enter 
the  field.  It  is  as  certain  as  any  human  event,  that  Henry  Clay 
will  be  the  whig  candidate  for  the  presidency.  The  whigs  have 
opened  their  convention  to  minorities  as  well  as  to  majorities  ;  and 
have  invited  representatives  of  every  interest  and  of  every  princi- 
ple throughout  the  land.  Discussion  has  been  free  and  amicable, 
because  every  member  of  the  party  knew  that  the  decision  would 
be  fairly  made ;  and  thus  in  the  result  the  party  are  unanimous. 
Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Union,  not  a  delegate 
has  been  chosen  who  will  not  give  his  voice  to  Henry  Clay,  nor 
is  there  a  whig,  north  or  south,  or  east  or  west,  who  will  not  by 
his  vote  affirm,  with  heart  and  soul,  this  unanimous  choice. 

Henry  Clay  is  a  statesman  in  self-sought,  contented  retire- 
ment, after  a  career  in  which  almost  every  stage  has  been  distin- 
guished by  acts  identified  with  the  defence  or  with  the  advance- 
ment of  this  country.  His  wisdom  sustained  and  animated  his 
countrymen  in  war,  and  his  moderation  and  equanimity  were 
employed  to  secure  the  blessings  of  an  honorable  and  lasting 
peace.  His  influence  in  the  public  councils  mainly  restored  the 
American  currency  when  it  had  been  unwisely  abandoned ;  and 
every  mechanic,  artisan,  farmer,  and  laborer,  throughout  the  land, 
hails  or  might  hail  him  with  reverence,  as  the  restorer  of  the 
prosperity  of  his  country.  Always  bold  and  persevering  in 
urging  the  rightful  policy  his  judgment  approved,  he  has  more 
than  once  had  the  greater  virtue  to  yield  cherished  and  useful 
objects,  when  opposition  became  factious  and  resisted  beneficial 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  241 

measures  by  laying  disloyal  hands  on  the  ark  of  the  Union.  His 
sympathies  are  not  bounded  by  his  country,  but  are  as  compre- 
hensive as  the  family  of  nations ;  and  he  is  venerated  hardly  less 
in  the  rising  republics  of  South  America  than  in  his  own  grate- 
ful land.  He  has  suffered  popular  injustice  deep  and  long,  be- 
cause he  had  the  fortitude  to  resjst  popular  delusion,  and,  relying 
on  his  own  conscience,  awaited  the  returning  justice  of  his  coun- 
trymen. And  that  justice  has  returned  at  last.  It  is  felt  in  dif- 
ferent degrees,  but  it  pervades  the  American  people.  It  disarms 
his  adversaries,  while  it  excites  his  friends  and  advocates  to  en- 
thusiasm. 

Who  now  accuses  Henry  Clay  of  duplicity  or  of  unchastened 
ambition?  Who  talks  now  of  triumvirates  combining  to  over- 
throw the  liberties  of  these  states?  Who  dares  to  utter  now  the 
charge  which  even  the  hero  of  New  Orleans  did  not  scruple  to 
sanction,  that  Henry  Clay  in  1824  made  a  corrupt  political  agree- 
ment with  John  Quincy  Adams?  The  year  1843  witnessed  the 
glorious  vindication  of  the  sage  and  philanthropist  of  Quincy. 
The  year  1844  will  be  made  memorable  by  the  vindication  of 
the  statesman  of  Ashland.  Calumny  has  learned  prudence,  and  is 
silent.  Do  our  adversaries  wonder  at  their  languor,  or  at  our 
zeal?  Here  is  the  cause.  Do  they  desire  to  foresee  the  result  ? 
Why,  this  is  a  republic.  Elections  are  determined  by  ballots  — 
I  wish  I  could  truly  say  by  the  votes  of  the  whole  people  —  and 
though  ballots  are  deposited  with  the  hand,  the  heart  unerringly 
selects  the  ballot  to  be  deposited.  The  fame  of  their  chief  is  wa- 
ning ;  that  of  ours  is  culminating.  Gratitude,  popular  gratitude 
elected  Washington,  the  first  whig  president :  popular  gratitude 
will  elect  Henry  Clay  the  next  whig  president. 

Fellow-citizens,  I  have  spoken  long  enough :  permit  me  now 
to  give  place  to  some  more  accustomed  orator.  [Cries  of  "  Go 
on  !  go  on  !  go  on  !"] 

Thus  far  I  have  spoken  of  men.  But  the  principles  of  our  cause 
are  more  important.  Men  change  and  die ;  principles  are  un- 
changeable and  eternal.  I  wish  you  could  have  been  gratified 
with  a  discussion  of  those  principles  by  your  correspondents  whose 
patriotic  letters  have  been  read — by  Francis  Granger,  to  whom 
I  delight  to  render  here  among  you  my  tribute  of  profound  re- 
spect, and  to  acknowledge  him  a  sound,  unwavering,  and  gener- 
ous statesman,  the  measure  of  whose  reward  I  hope  is  not  yet 

Yol.  III.— 16 


242  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

filled  ;  or  by  Mark  H.  Sibley,  whose  eloquence  here  as  well  as  in 
the  public  councils  is  known  to  me,  not  by  my  own  hearing,  but 
by  the  enthusiasm  which  he  kindled  in  my  own  behalf  among 
my  own  friends,  and  by  the  discomfiture  of  unsparing  assailants, 
when  other  advocates  quailed  before  them,  and  I  had  not  a  right 
to  speak  in  my  own  defence.  Shall  he  not  always  be  welcome 
here  in  Cayuga,  and  by  you,  men  of  Cortland  ?  But  since  these 
worthy  friends  hav^  failed  us,  and  since  you  command  me,  I  will 
speak  briefly  of  the  principles  involved  in  the  present  contest. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  banks  of  the  Kile  have  a  tradition  that 
the  greatest  of  the  Egyptian  pyramids  was  built  by  the  antedilu- 
vians, and  they  venerate  that  great  obelisk  as  the  only  work  of  that 
mighty  race  that  has  withstood  the  floods  that  changed  and  de- 
formed the  face  of  nature.  Something  like  this  is  the  reverence 
I  feel  toward  the  whig  party.  It  was  erected  not  this  year,  nor 
a  few  years  ago.  Its  foundations  were  laid  and  its  superstructure 
reared  by  the  mighty  men  of  ages  now  remote  — by  the  Hamp 
dens,  the  Sidneys,  the  Vanes,  and  the  Miltons — by  the  Presbyte- 
rians, the  Puritans,  the  republicans,  the  whigs,  of  England — 
those  who  first  secured  the  responsibility  of  kings  by  bringing 
the  tyrant  Charles  to  the  block,  and  the  inviolability  of  parlia- 
ments by  erecting,  even  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  a 
commonwealth.  Then  and  there  arose  the  whig  party  —  that 
party  which  now,  under  whatever  name,  in  every  civilized  coun- 
try, advocates  the  cause  of  constitutional,  representative  govern- 
ment, with  watchful  jealousy  of  executive  power.  Of  that  race, 
who  feared  only  God,  and  loved  liberty,  were  the  founders  of 
Virginia  and  of  New  England ;  and  the  Catholic  founders  of  Ma- 
ryland and  the  peaceful  settlers  of  Pennsylvania  were  worthy  as- 
sociates with  them.  Here  they  established  governments  of  which 
Europe  was  not  worthy,  and  to  perpetuate  them  they  founded 
institutions  for  the  education  of  children  and  for  the  worship  of 
God. 

Thus  early  was  promulgated  the  pure  whig  creed — equal  pop- 
ular representative  government,  jealousy  of  executive  power,  the 
education  of  children,  and  the  worship  of  God.  When  the  pros- 
perity of  these  colonies  excited  the  cupidity  of  the  parent-state, 
and  the  king  and  parliament  invaded  the  rights  of  the  American 
people,  there  were  two  parties  as  there  always  have  been  since, 
and  always  will  be  hereafter.     One  of  them  adhered  to  the  colo« 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  243 

nies  through  perils  of  confiscation  and  death  —  the  other  clung 
to  the  throne  of  England.  The  one  was  whig  —  and  the  other 
was — I  will  not  call  a  name  that  the  error  of  ultra  loyalty  then 
rendered  odious,  and  thenceforth  and  for  ever  infamous.  [Great 
applause.]  I  desire  to  be  understood.  I  by  no  means  impute  to 
our  opponents  that  they  have  succeeded  to  the  loyalists  of  the 
Revolution.  I  aver  solemnly  my  belief  that,  as  a  general  truth, 
all  men  of  all  parties  are  alike  honest  and  patriotic  citizens,  and 
seek  their  country's  good  alone.  Political  life  would  have  been 
unprofitable  indeed  if  it  had  not  taught  me  the  virtue  of  candor 
in  judging  others,  as  well  as  the  great  error  of  always  expecting 
candor  in  their  judgments  on  myself. 

But  I  maintain  that,  let  other  parties  profess  what  they  may, 
and  assume  to  themselves  what  name  they  may,  and  while  the 
principles  of  all  parties  assimilate  often,  and  their  policy  still 
more  frequently,  yet  the  whig  party  always  is  found  and  known 
by  these  marks:  jealousy  of  executive  power,  and  strict  adhe- 
rence to  a  system  of  firm  and  equal  representative  legislation. 
The  veto,  the  strongest  bulwark  of  executive  power,  has  always 
had  an  admiring  party,  but  it  was  not  the  whig  party.  The  veto 
has  been  upheld  by  the  royal  party  in  England  as  steadily  as  by 
our  own  opponents  here,  and  has  been  defended  with  the  same 
arguments.  It  has  been  practically  abolished  there  by  the  whig 
party,  and  will  ultimately  be  restrained  or  abolished  by  the  whig 
party  here.  Legislative  records  have  been  expunged,  to  allay 
executive  anger,  and  there  was  a  party  to  justify  the  sacrilege  — 
but  it  was  never  the  whig  party. 

Judges  have  been  censured,  and  their  judgments  virtually  ob- 
literated, as  an  offering  to  executive  ambition ;  but  never  by 
whigs.  Equality  of  representation  is  destroyed  when  many  rep- 
resentatives are  unnecessarily  elected  by  a  plurality  of  suffrages, 
instead  of  delegates  being  elected  in  single  districts  of  equal  pop- 
ulation. This  fundamental  principle  has  been  abrogated  by  Con- 
gress, and  there  is  a  party  that  approves  the  deed,  but  it  is  not 
the  whig  party.  Legislatures  have  usurped  the  power  of  choos- 
ing the  electors  for  president  and  vice-president  of  the  United 
States,  and  a  party  among  us  has  canonized  the  usurpers ;  but  it 
was  not  the  whig  party.  There  have  been  limitations  of  popular 
suffrage,  and  exclusion  of  classes  from  the  ballot-boxes,  and  there 
has  been  a  party  always  to  defend  the  exclusion ;  but  it  was  not 


244  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

the  whig  party.  By  these  marks  we  know  the  whig  party  of 
1688,  of  1776,  of  1824,  and  of  1840.  There  it  stands,  distinct  and 
peculiar,  in  its  primitive  strength  and  purity,  and  uncompromi- 
sing maintenance  of  the  natural  and  equal  rights  of  man. 

Had  the  whigs  of  1688  lived  in  our  day  and  in  our  country, 
they  would  not  have  sustained  the  vetoes  of  Andrew  Jackson  and 
of  John  Tyler.  Had  the  whigs  of  1840  lived  in  1776,  they  would 
have  resisted  the  stamp-act  —  and  in  1688,  they  would  have  been 
regicides.  There  stand  the  whig  party  —  always  abhorring  tyr- 
anny and  despising  adulation,  they  defy  executive  power,  and 
they  break  in  pieces  all  institutions  designed  to  defeat  the  will 
of  the  people  —  as  well  as  the  caucus  system  established  to  defeat 
the  will  of  the  people,  as  the  veto,  used  to  bring  that  will  into 
subjection. 

In  this  country  the  whigs  are  always  identified,  not  only  by 
these  principles,  but  also  by  their  policy,  which  changes  not. 
The  first  Congress  of  the  United  States  was  a  whig  Congress.  It 
established  a  national  currency  and  a  national  tariff,  and  devoted 
the  national  domain  to  fortify  the  credit  of  the  nation  and  of  the 
states.  The  first  Congress  promulgated  no  such  theories  as  that 
government  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  currency,  or  that  the 
people  expected  too  much  from  their  rulers.  Those  who  signed 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  would  have  been  shocked  by 
the  irreverence  which  transferred  the  name  of  that  sacred  instru- 
ment to  the  titlepage  of  a  sub-treasury  statute. 

Nor  were  the  whigs  of  1787  less  wise  in  their  generation  than 
the  statesmen  of  this  day  in  regard  to  free  trade.  They  knew 
that  it  was  a  theory  to  be  inculcated  among  men  for  their  ulti- 
mate and  universal  adoption — that  free  trade,  like  the  millen- 
nium, was  to  be  preached  for  and  prayed  for,  that  it  might  be 
established  throughout  the  whole  world.  But  they  knew  that, 
until  the  rich  and  powerful  states  of  Europe  would  relinquish 
their  restrictions  on  our  infant  trade,  it  would  be  folly  and  mad- 
ness for  this  new  commonwealth  to  leave  the  industry  and  labor 
of-  its  citizens  unprotected.  The  American  system  has  been  as- 
cribed to  Henry  Clay.  Nevertheless,  great  as  his  merits  in  ad- 
vocating it  are,  the  system  dates  from  the  days  of  Washington, 
and  comes  down  to  us  with  the  sanction  of  his  immortal  name. 

The  whigs  of  1787  reinvigorated  and  restored  the  credit  of 
the  states  and  of  the  nation  by  devoting  the  revenues  of  the 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  245 

public  domain  to  the  extinguishment  of  the  public  debt,  and  thus 
they  ultimately  secured  the  great  achievement  of  the  age,  the 
payment  of  the  principal  as  well  as  interest  of  a  national  debt 
incurred  in  the  '  establishment  of  national  independence — an 
achievement  which  boasting  England  never  conceived  of,  and 
never  has  attempted  to  emulate.  Had  either  of  the  two  recent 
whig  laws  for  distributing  the  revenues  of  the  public  domain 
among  the  states  been  allowed  effect,  there  would  not  now  have 
been  an  insolvent  state,  and  the  American  people  would  have 
avoided  the  only  reproach  that  has  justly  fallen  upon  their  name. 
Adhere" to  the  federal  Union,  and  assiduously  strengthen  it  by 
all  the  means  in  your  power,  by  opening  roads  and  improving 
rivers  which  shall  facilitate  intercourse  between  the  citizens  of 
the  several  states,  and  incite  them  to  cultivate  relations  of  mu- 
tual interest  and  affection,  was  the  parting  injunction  of  the  Fa- 
ther of  his  country.  True  to  that  injunction,  the  whigs  of  1840 
and  1844  wait  to  resume  the  public  works  which  their  adversa- 
ries have  abandoned,  and  to  aid  and  restore  the  feebler  states, 
who,  for  want  of  their  just  shares  of  the  revenues  of  the  national 
domain,  have  failed  in  indiscreet  but  not  unworthy  enterprises. 
Then,  as  heretofore,  public  works  will  be  completed  which  will 
be  not  only  channels  of  trade,  but  fountains  of  revenue,  and  bonds 
of  indissoluble  union. 

Which,  then,  is  the  whig  party?  which  the  republican?  which 
the  true  democratic  party  —  the  party  of  liberty,  of  equality,  of 
humanity  ?  the  party  of  hope,  of  progress,  and  of  civilization  ? 
Let  the  history  of  the  past,  let  the  developments  of  the  future,  de- 
termine. The  whig  party  has  committed  errors.  Human  nature 
can  not  but  err.  Individuals  often  err,  and  masses  still  more  fre- 
quently. But  the  errors  of  the  whig  party  are  always  on  the  side 
of  law,  of  order,  and  of  popular  liberty.  Let  us  take  care  to  cor- 
rect all  our  errors,  and  let  us  take  care  that  no  errors  of  conduct, 
no  partial  or  temporary  interests,  no  prejudices  unworthy  of  free- 
men or  of  men,  retard  the  progress  of  this  great  party  of  our 
hopes  and  our  affections.  Let  it  continue  to  occupy  all  its  broad 
foundations  —  to  offer  security,  protection,  improvement,  and  ele- 
vation, to  all  conditions  of  men,  as  all  conditions  of  men  alike 
enjoy  the  impartial  favor  of  God,  and  are  entitled  to  impartia- 
representation  in  government. 


246  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


THE  ELECTION   OF  1844. 

SYRACUSE,    JULY    13,    1844. 

People  of  Onondaga  —  of  the  land  of  lofty  hills,  of  mineral 
fountains,  and  of  picturesque  lakes — you  have  invited  and  re- 
ceived me  as  a  guest — as  a  stranger.  But  I  renounce  these  gen- 
erous hospitalities.  Though  we  have  never  met,  we  have  for 
twenty  years  been  neighbors,  belonging  to  the  same  constituency. 
You  were  among  my  earliest  patrons,  and  always  among  the 
truest  and  most  faithful  of  my  constituents  when  in  public  ser- 
vice. I  am  one  of  you  —  at  home  here,  and  distinguished  only 
by  the  greatness  of  my  obligations. 

People  of  Onondaga  !  you  are  convened  in  council.*  In  com- 
pliance with  the  summons  I  bear,  and  after  the  manner  of  your 
predecessors,  the  real  native  Americans,  you  have  gathered  your- 
selves, not  indeed  in  a  walled  castle,  but  in  your  own  forest- 
shades,  to  receive  the  message  ;  and,  like  them,  you  have  brought 
the  women  and  children.  According  to  the  traditions  of  the 
Onondagas,  the  behests  of  those  ancient  republicans  were  always 
expressed  in  the  name  of  the  "  chiefs,  head-men,  warriors,  and 
women,  of  the  tribe."  This  is  especially  right  in  the  civilized 
state,  where  women  are  so  educated  and  so  elevated,  that  their 
influence  is  as  salutary  as  it  is  always  effective.  Well,  you  un- 
derstand the  summons.  I  come  in  the  name  and  by  the  author- 
ity of  the  whig  convention  at  Baltimore  !  The  whigs  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  —  a  vast  and  increasing  host — have  chosen  Henry 
Clay,  of  Kentucky,  for  their  leader,  and  Theodore  Erelinghuy- 
sen,  of  New  Jersey,  for  his  lieutenant.  They  are  marching 
through  the  land,  from  Penobscot  bay  to  the  Pocky  mountains, 
subverting  all  misgovernment,  and  restoring  law,  order,  and  pros- 
perity. They  have  arrived  on  the  borders  of  Onondaga.  You 
hear  their  shouts,  and  see  the  vanguard  descending  your  eastern 

*  This  speech  was  addressed  to  one  of  the  largest  assemblages  ever  convened  in 
western  New  York. — Ed. 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1844.  247 

hills.  I  demand  for  them  a  free  passage  through  this  valley.  I 
demand  the  surrender  of  this  county  into  their  hands !  I  demand 
still  more  than  this :  I  require  you  to  join  yourselves  to  their  con- 
quering hosts,  and  march  on  with  them  to  the  consummation  of 
their  victory !  Well,  then  (Mr.  President,  with  your  leave),  if 
you  are  sincere  in  this,  people  of  Onondaga,  express  your  decis- 
ion by  three  cheers  for  Henry  Clay ! 

Now  we  are  ready  to  march  !  Let  us  set  up  our  banners.  But 
hold !  here  are  the  Cayugas,  the  Oneidas,  the  Senecas,  the  Onta- 
rios,  and  the  Oswegos.  What  say  you,  shall  we  organize  the  Six 
Nations,  and  set  up  our  banner  for  central  New  York  ? 

Well!  well!  what  inscription  shall  we  have  upon  our  banner? 
Ah,  there  it  is,  embroidered  as  with  fairy  hand  on  that  pure  white 
canvass :  "  Internal  improvement."  What  say  you,  my  friends, 
— has  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie  canal  been  suspended  long 
enough?  Well,  then,  "Resumption  of  internal  improvement"  is 
the  word.  But  hold,  fellow-citizens :  shall  it  be  resumption  of 
the  canal  alone  ?  or  shall  it  be  the  resumption  of  all  the  useful 
public  works  —  canals  and  railroads  ?  the  restoration  of  the  policy 
of  Clinton,  equal  and  impartial — blessing  not  merely  the  centre, 
but  the  borders  of  the  state  —  the  dwellers  on  the  bank  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  in  the  valleys  of  the  Susquehannah  ? 

What  next,  fellow-citizens?  It  was  the  whig  policy  to  com- 
plete the  public  works  with  the  revenue  derived  from  them  alone, 
without  taxation,  and  to  divide  the  cost  in  just  proportion,  at 
least  with  the  people  of  the  western  states,  who  use  our  canals  for 
shipping  to  market  productions  which  they  raise  on  the  lands  we 
opened  to  them,  and  which  cost  them  only  ten  shillings  per  acre, 
while  ours  cost  us  forty  dollars  per  acre.  Taxation  for  purposes 
of  internal  improvement  is  inevitably  unequal,  as  it  is  unneces- 
sary, under  a  judicious  administration.  What  say  you,  then? 
Shall  the  canal  policy  be  modified  so  as  to  relieve  the  citizens  of 
this  state  from  unnecessary  and  unequal  taxation,  if  we  can  do  so 
consistently  with  the  public  faith  ? 

What  more,  fellow-citizens  ?  In  the  eastern  cities  they  are  pro- 
scribing and  disfranchising  citizens,  because  they  had  the  misfor- 
tune to  be  born  in  lands  benighted  and  oppressed ;  and  in  one  of 
those  cities  —  the  cradle  of  the  equality  of  man  —  they  expel,  by 
the  sword  and  the  bayonet,  women,  children,  and  ministers  of 
the  gospel,  from  their  homes,  and  light  up  their  way  to  the  woods 


248  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

and  fields  by  -the  fires  of  their  dwellings,  their  houses,  and  their 
altars !  And  all  this  proscription  is  because  the  unoffending  cit- 
izens were  born  in  Ireland,  and  worship  God  and  desire  to  edu- 
cate their  children  in  the  faith  and  ritual  of  their  forefathers ! 
What  do  you  say,  men  and  women — Christian,  Protestant  men 
and  women  of  Onondaga?  Are  not  all  men  "born  free  and 
equal  ?"  Is  not  this  the  asylum  for  the  exile  for  freedom's  and 
for  conscience'  sake?  And  shall  not  the  exile  enjoy  the  ballot, 
his  just  and  only  just  weapon  of  defence  against  our  own  pos- 
sible injustice  ?  Shall  he  not  be  at  liberty  to  educate  his  children 
according  to  the  dictates  of  his  conscience  as  fully  as  we  do? 
"Well,  then,  we  write  on  our  glorious  banner,  "  Universal  suffrage 
and  universal  education."  [Cheers.]  Thank  you,  my  friends. 
The  exile  shall  bless  you.  Rising  generations  shall  thank  you, 
and  the  world  will  hail  our  great  army  as  the  missionaries  of 
Knowledge  and  Freedom. 

What  else  ?  Oh !  there,  I  catch  the  words  from  that  banner 
that  is  half  hidden  in  the  leaves  of  the  old  ash- tree  over  your 
heads.  "Home  industry"  —  "Protection  to  home  industry." 
Protection  implies  that  we  depend  upon  somebody  else  for  pro- 
tection. We  will  be  our  own  protectors.  We  will  say,  "Main- 
tain home  industry." 

Fellow-citizens,  you  would  have  me  discuss  the  tariff.  But  even 
this  long  summer-day  has  been  nearly  spent  in  the  gathering  of 
the  people.  I  have  adopted  the  one-hour  rule  for  your  sake,  and 
that  of  my  associates,  }Tour  patriotic  orators  who  are  to  follow  me. 
There  is  no  time  for  argument.  Good  housewife  from  Otisco,  if 
your  bread  was  ready  for  the  oven,  and  you  had  none,  would 
you  bake  at  home,  or  send  it  to  your  neighbor's?  and  if  you  had 
no  oven,  would  you  change  works  with  your  more  fortunate 
neighbor  who  has  one,  or  would  you  send  to  the  distant  market- 
town  ?  You  would  do  it  at  home,  and  always  as  near  home  as 
possible ;  of  course  you  would.  Now  the  principle  of  home  in- 
dustry applies  just  as  well  to  the  making  of  our  own  leather  and 
of  our  own  boots,  our  own  cloth  and  of  our  own  clothing,  of  our 
own  salt,  of  our  own  knives  and  forks,  of  our  own  shovels  and 
tongs,  and  of  our  own  spinning-jennies  and  steam-engines,  as  to 
the  lowly  example  I  have  set  forth.  But  the  European  baker 
can  not  compete  with  the  housewife ;  while  the  European  me- 
chanic, tanner,  shoemaker,  spinster,  weaver,  blacksmith,  iron- 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1844.  249 

founder,  and  iron-monger,  can.  We  must,  then,  have  duties 
which  shall  secure  equal  advantages  to  our  own  mechanics. 

These  marshes  were  once  filled  with  the  miasma  of  pestilence ; 
and  the  vicinity  of  the  salt  lake  was  as  dreadful  to  the  traveller 
as  the  sea  of  Sodom.  Now  your  salt  springs  are  sources  of  health 
and  wealth.  What  has  made  this  change?  The  tariff — home 
industry. 

Well,  but  our  opponents  say  that  they  are  friendly  to  home 
industry  —  that  Silas  Wright  saved  it!  Saved  it  from  whom? 
From  their  own  hostility  !  Saved  it  from  themselves  !  But  they 
want  it  modified,  so  as  to  give  "  equal  protection  to  all."  And 
what  do  they  mean  by  that  ?  Why,  no  protection  to  anybody  ! 
But  they  say  they  are  now  convinced  that  this  tariff  is  right,  and 
they  will  let  it  alone.  It  is  a  death-bed  confession.  Do  not  trust 
them.  We  trusted  them  once,  and  justly  reaped  the  bitter  fruits 
of  our  folly.     We  will  trust  them  no  more  ! 

Why,  what  a  miserable  appearance  do  our  opponents  make 
here  —  claiming  protection  to  the  wool  grower,  not  to  the  wool 
spinners  and  weavers,  when  the  wool-grower  is  receiving  forty 
cents  per  pound  —  double  what  he  received  before  the  tariff-law 
was  passed !  They  inscribe  their  deceptive  mottoes  on  muslin 
for  which  they  are  indebted  to  whig  hands  and  whig  looms  — 
brought  into  employment  by  the  whig  tariff. 

But  our  banner  is  broad  enough,  and  wants  yet  another  motto. 
What  shall  it  be  ?  "  Distribution  of  the  proceeds  of  the  public 
lands  among  the  states  ?"  That  is  the  Clay  policy !  And  a 
beneficent  policy  it  is  too.  But  what  say  our  opponents? 
why,  it  is  robbing  the  people,  to  bribe  them  with  their 
own  money!  The  land  revenues  are  taken  from  the  federal 
treasury,  they  say,  and  the  people  must  be  taxed  to  supply  the 
amount  so  withdrawn.  Well,  but  are  they  not  brought  into  the 
state  treasury  ?  and  are  not  the  people  to  be  taxed  by  the  states, 
just  as  much  as  they  receive  from  the  federal  treasury  ?  Surely 
such  exchange  as  this  is  no  robbery.  But  the  people  are  not 
taxed  to  supply  the  amount  withdrawn.  It  is  the  foreign  me- 
chanic and  artisan  and  capitalist,  who  are  taxed  for  that  amount. 

Again,  what  are  the  imposts  that  are  so  much  to  be  dreaded? 
Why,  the  duties  by  which  we  secure  the  prosperity  of  our  own 
agriculture  and  manufactures.  Let  us,  then,  have  the  imposts, 
and  let  us  devote  the  public  domain  to  education,  and  the  im- 


250  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

provement  of  roads  and  rivers.  This  was  the  policy  of  Jefferson  ; 
it  is  the  policy  of  the  whigs.  If  our  opponents  are  not  satisfied 
with  this,  we  will  surrender  it  all  to  purchase  and  emancipate 
the  slaves  of  the  south.  ["  Ay,  ay,  the  whole  of  it."]  Nobly 
and  generously  said,  fellow-citizens.  And  such  generosity  would 
be  doubly  blessed,  for  like  the  quality  of  mercy,  it  would  bless 
them  that  received,  and  them  that  gave. 

Once  more,  my  friends,  our  opponents,  since  last  they  met  us, 
have  changed  not  only  their  leader,  but  their  front.  Their  watch- 
words then  were  "  Van  Buren  and  no  Texas,"  now  their  watchcry 
is,  "Polk  and  Texas — Texas  as  soon  as  possible,"  which  being 
interpreted  by  Andrew  Jackson,  means  "Texas  now  if  ever." 
By  adopting  this  new  policy,  they  have  forfeited  for  ever,  all  pre- 
tension alike  to  the  name  and  to  the  principles  of  democracy. 
Henceforth  their  principle  is,  slavery ;  their  name,  the  Slavery 
party  ! 

When  the  constitution  was  formed,  there  were  thirteen  states. 
In  seven  of  them  the  system  of  free  labor  was  exclusively  or 
prevalently  established.  That  is  the  system  we  daily  see  and 
practise.  Your  hands  and  mine  are  free.  They  are  moved  by 
the  assurance  of  rewards,  of  the  enjoyment  of  all  that  they  earn  ; 
and  the  desire  of  reward  springs  from  the  necessity  and  duty  of 
supplying  our  own  wants  and  the  wants  of  our  wives  and  chil- 
dren, and  providing  for  our  children's  education  and  competence. 
In  six  of  the  states  the  system  of  involuntary  or  slave  labor  was 
supreme.  What  is  that  system?  The  fields  are  tilled  and  fabrics 
wrought  by  slaves.  They  toil  without  reward,  and  without  even 
the  pressure  of  necessity  for  their  support.  The  fear  of  the  lash, 
not  the  love  of  wife  and  children,  is  the  only  stimulant ;  for  their 
bondage  was  inherited,  and  is  transmitted  to  their  descendants 
for  ever.  These  six  slave-labor  states  refused  to  enter  the  Union 
without  a  concession  of  undue  political  power.  That  concession 
was,  that  every  five  hundred  slaves  should  count  as  three  hun- 
dred freemen,  and  the  master  should  vote  for  the  slaves ;  so  that, 
in  effect,  a  member  of  Congress  from  the  free-labor  state  has  only 
one  vote,  while  the  representative  of  a  slaveholding  state  has  what 
is  equivalent  to  one  vote  and  three  fifths  of  another.  These  mas- 
ter-slaveholders are  an  aristocracy.  This  principle  of  slave  rep- 
resentation is  the  Corinthian  pillar  of  the.  constitution.  Its  base 
is  sunk  deep,  and  serpents  hiss  among  the  leaves  that  entwine 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1844.  251 

its  capital.  Even  we  once  had  an  aristocracy  here  in  this  state, 
an  aristocracy  of  landholders,  but  we  abolished  it  twenty  years 
ago.  Now  the  freeholder  and  the  laboring  man,  the  gentleman 
and  his  servant,  are  all  equal.  It  was  righteously  and  wisely 
done,  for  wealth  is  no  test  of  worth,  and  the  lowly  and  indigent 
have  an  equal  natural  right  to  suffrage  with  the  landholder,  and 
more  need  for  its  protection.  But  if  the  aristocracy  of  land  was 
thus  improper,  what  shall  we  say  of  the  aristocracy  of  slavery  ? 
Both  are  the  aristocracy  of  wealth.  But  the  wealth  in  the  one 
case  consisted  in  acres  —  a  portion  of  that  earth  which  God  has 
assigned  to  us  for  acquisition.  The  other  consists  in  the  bones 
and  sinews,  the  life  and  blood,  the  bodies  and  souls,  of  men,  wo- 
men, and  children.  Yet  such  is  the  aristocracy  of  the  federal 
constitution.  It  is  now  no  matter  how  this  aristocracy  came  to 
be  established.  Our  opponents  propose  now  to  add  Texas  as  a 
slaveholding  territory  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment; thus  increasing  by  one,  two,  three,  or  five,  the  number  of 
the  slaveholding  states,  and  enlarging  the  foundation  and  dimen- 
sions of  the  aristocracy  of  the  constitution,  and  increasing  its 
strength  so  that  it  may  never  be  shaken  or  severed  from  the  glo- 
rious edifice  of  American  freedom !  Said  I  not  truly,  then,  that 
this  is  a  forfeiture  of  all  pretension  to  the  name  and  principles 
of  democracy? 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  what  will  it  cost  to  secure  the  peculiar 
institutions  of  the  south  ?  Why,  first,  the  assumption  of  the  debt 
of  Texas.  It  may  be  fifteen,  it  may  be  twenty -two  millions  of 
dollars.  More  or  less,  this  ought  to  be  an  objection  with  those 
who  deny  the  federal  government  constitutional  power  to  assume 
the  debts  of  the  several  states  which  are  members  of  the  confed- 
eracy. But  I  do  not  dwell  on  this  objection.  If  Texas  was  desi- 
rable under  present  circumstances,  I  should  not  hesitate  merely 
about  the  cost ;  and  we  see  already  that  the  Texas  party  find  a 
wonderful  elasticity  in  the  constitution.  Well  they  may.  They 
were  the  party  of  repudiation ;  and  a  debt  of  twenty-five  millions 
would  be  as  easily  paid  off  in  that  way  as  a  debt  of  one. 

But  what  will  Texas  cost?  It  will  cost  a  war  with  Mexico  — 
an  unjust  war — a  war  to  extend  the  slave-trade  and  the  slave- 
piracy — piracy  in  the  judgment  of  Christendom.  In  such  a  war 
the  nations  of  Europe  and  of  South  America  would  decide  against 
us,  and  the  Almighty  has  no  attribute  which  would  induce  him 
to  bless  our  arms. 


252  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES.      ' 

You  will  not  go  to  war  for  human  slavery,  will  you?  ["No ! 
no  !"J  Let  the  advocate  of  Texas  stand  forth.  See  here  fifteen 
thousand  men  enjoying  the  blessings  of  peace,  freedom,  knowl- 
edge, religion,  and  virtue :  you  can  not  have  war  without  their 
consent !  Think  you  they  will  forego  these  blessings  to  perpetu- 
ate and  extend  the  domain  of  slavery  ?  No !  no  !  War  is  the 
game  of  kings — of  despots;  not  of  democracies  —  and,  above  all, 
not  of  the  democracy  of  the  American  states.  What  has  slavery 
done  for  us  already,  that  we  should  hazard  peace,  prosperity,  and 
honor,  to  secure  or  extend  its  hateful  sway  ?  It  has  once  lost  us 
our  system  of  home  industry ;  our  public  credit ;  cost  us  a  long 
season  of  financial  embarrassment ;  the  abandonment  of  internal 
improvements ;  waste  of  the  national  domain ;  a  sacrifice  of  the 
inviolate  right  of  petition ;  the  forfeiture  of  all  consistency  of 
public  character,  and  the  disrespect  of  civilized  men.  This  is 
enough,  and  too  much. 

What  should  we  gain  by  the  acquisition  of  Texas?  Land! 
Have  we  not  a  thousand  millions  of  uncultivated  acres  already  ? 
Security  against  the  invasion  of  the  south  ?  Let  the  south  abol- 
ish slavery,  and  she  may  defy  invasion  as  boldly  as  we  who  dwell 
almost  within  sight  and  hearing  of  British  cannon.  Extension 
of  market  for  our  manufactures  ?  Does  not  the  slavery  we  al- 
ready have  threaten  to  nullify  the  Union,  to  prevent  our  manu- 
facturing at  all  ? 

Citizens — ye  who  have  rejoiced  under  the  name,  and  claimed 
the  principles  of  democracy — I  am  one  of  you.  If  I  know  my 
own  heart  or  life,  I  love  and  cherish,  next  to  my  religion,  the 
equal  and  beneficent  principle  of  democracy.  I  warn  you  not  to 
be  misled.  Henceforth  the  whigs  are  by  confession  of  the  people 
of  America — by  confession  of  mankind — the  party  of  freedom, 
of  progress,  and  of  civilization. 

Friends  of  emancipation !  advocates  of  the  rights  of  man !  I 
am  one  of  you.  I  have  always  believed  and  trusted  that  the 
whigs  of  America  would  come  up  to  the  ground  you  have  so  no- 
bly assumed.  Not  that  I  supposed  or  believed  they  would  all  at 
once,  or  all  from  the  same  impulses,  reach  that  ground:  but 
that  the  progress  of  events  would  surely  bring  them  there,  and 
they  would  assume  it  cheerfully.  That  consummation  has  come. 
All  that  is  dear  to  the  whigs  of  the  United  States  in  regard  to 
Dolicy,  to  principle,  and  to  administration,  is  now  involved  with 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1844.  253 

your  own  favorite  cause  in  the  present  issue  upon  the  admission 
of  Texas  to  the  Union.  You  have  now  this  great,  generous,  and 
triumphant  party,  on  the  very  ground  to  which  you  have  invited 
them,  and  for  not  assuming  which  prematurely  you  have  so  often 
denounced  them.  But  you  will  say  that  Henry  Clay  is  a  slave- 
holder. So  he  is.  I  regret  it  as  deeply  as  you  do.  I  wish  it 
were  otherwise.  But  our  conflict  is  not  with  one  slaveholder,  or 
with  many,  but  with  slavery.  Henry  Clay  is  our  representative. 
You  are  opposed  to  the  admission  of  Texas,  and  you  admit  and 
assert  the  duty  of  resisting  it  by  the  right  of  suffrage.  Will  you 
resist  it  by  voting  for  James  G.  Birney  ?  Your  votes  would  be 
just  as  effectual  if  cast  upon  the  waters  of  this  placid  lake. 

But  you  say  Henry  Clay  disavows  abolitionism.  Let  him  do 
so.  What  care  you  and  I  for  that?  He  is  opposed  to  the  com- 
ing in  of  Texas.  He  is  the  candidate  of  the  whig  party.  They 
are  opposed  to  the  coming  in  of  Texas.  They,  not  he,  are  to 
prevent  the  annexation  of  Texas.  Let  us  bring  New  York  up 
to  the  ground  she  held  in  the  Yirginia  controversy.  Then  she 
shall  have  anti-Texas  senators  in  Congress.  Let  us  secure  the 
election  of  anti-Texas  representatives  in  Congress ;  and  then  let 
the  ghost  of  the  Texas  treaty  come  back  in  what  shape  it  may, 
we  will  question  it  and  silence  it  for  ever.  If  it  come  again  by 
treaty,  it  will  be  rejected.  If  by  law  or  joint  resolution,  it  will 
be  defeated.  The  security,  the  duration,  the  extension  of  slavery, 
all  depend  on  the  annexation  of  Texas.  How,  then,  can  any 
friend  of  emancipation  vote  for  the  Texas  candidate,  or  withhold 
his  vote  from  the  whig  candidate,  without  exhibiting  the  mere 
caprice  of  faction? 

Democrats,  liberty-men,  and  whigs,  by  whatever  name  you 
prefer  to  be  called !  the  issue  presents  itself  alike  to  all.  Texas 
and  slavery  are  at  war  with  the  interests,  the  principles,  the  sym- 
pathies, of  all.  The  integrity  of  the  Union  depends  on  the  result. 
To  increase  the  slaveholding  power  is  to  subvert  the  constitution ; 
to  give  a  fearful  preponderance,  which  may,  and  probably  will, 
be  speedily  followed  by  demands  to  which  the  democratic  free- 
labor  states  can  not  yield,  and  the  demand  of  which  will  be  made 
the  ground  for  secession,  nullification,  and  disunion. 

Note. — Among  the  charges  made  against  Mr.  Seward,  is,  that  he  did  not  support 
Mr.  Clay  in  the  canvass  of  1844.  The  speeches  here  presented,  made  during  that  mem- 
orable campaign,  are  the  best  answers  to  the  calumny. — Ed. 


254  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


IKELAN'D   AND   NATIYE   AMERICANS. 

UTICA,   JULY,    1844. 

You  have  assembled  under  a  notice  addressed  to  you  as  repeal- 
ers, but  I  think  I  may  safely  address  you  by  the  title  of  fellow- 
citizens.  I  regret  that  it  is  my  first  duty  to  announce  to  so  vast 
an  assemblage  that  it  is  my  purpose  to  disappoint  their  reasona- 
ble expectations.  You  have  come  here  to  listen  to  an  oration  for 
repeal.  It  frequently  happens  that  the  highest  and  noblest  cause 
is  impaired  by  the  indiscreet  ardor  of  its  advocates.  So  it  is  now 
and  here  in  regard  to  the  revolution  in  Ireland.  It  involves  more 
benefit  and  more  of  hope  for  the  human  race  than  any  other 
cause  which  now  engages  the  attention  of  the  civilized  world, 
except  one,  and  that  is  the  emancipation  of  that  large  portion  of 
the  human  family  degraded  into  domestic  as  well  as  political 
slavery.  Every  American  concedes  that  the  intense  interest  felt 
and  manifested  in  favor  of  the  repeal  of  the  act  of  union  by  the 
people  of  Ireland  and  their  brethren  here  is  natural  and  right. 
But  a  suspicion  of  insincerity  follows  the  native-born  American 
citizen  who  betrays  more  than  a  conventional  and  customary 
sympathy  for  the  people  of  a  land  so  remote,  and  with  whom  he 
is  connected  by  none  of  the  bonds  of  immediate  consanguinity. 

Advocacy  that  is  suspected  of  insincerity  injures  any  cause. 
Hence  it  is  that,  though  regarded  as  a  friend  of  liberty  in  Ireland, 
I  have  not  been  among  its  efficient  advocates :  I  have  never 
pleaded  that  cause  with  half  the  zeal  or  effort  that  we  are  all  ac- 
customed to  put  forth,  even  in  support  of  measures  of  mere  ad- 
ministration at  home.  A  letter  here  and  there,  drawn  forth  by 
inquiries  that  could  not  be  disallowed,  constitute  all  my  advo- 
cacy of  Irish  repeal,  except  that  by  once  or  twice  presiding  at 
what  were  called  repeal-meetings  I  gave  to  the  cause  the  sanc- 

Nora — Mr.  Seward  having  been  in  attendance  at  the  courts  sitting  in  Utica,  the 
friends  of  repeal  conceived  it  an  opportune  time  to  respectfully  invite  him  to  address 
a  public  meeting  at  that  critical  juncture  of  Irish  affairs. — JSd. 


IRELAND  AND  NATIVE  AMERICANS.  255 

tion  of  my  name  and  character,  as  does  the  respectable  citizen 
in  the  chair  on  the  present  occasion.  And  yet  the  unmoved  mas- 
ses around  me  have  marked  even  this  cautious  sympathy  as  ex- 
ceeding the  bounds  of  moderation.  Irish-born  citizens  of  Utica ! 
such  considerations  as  these  induced  me  to  decline  the  honor  of 
meeting  you  a  year  ago.  Then  the  revolution  in  Ireland  seemed 
to  be  advancing  rapidly  and  surely  to  a  successful  and  glorious 
consummation.  Then  the  American  people  held  or  seemed  to 
hold  their  adopted  brethren  born  in  Ireland  in  due  respect  and 
consideration.  You  and  your  country  had  advocates,  defenders, 
and  orators,  enough  and  to  spare.  But  a  reaction  has  come  which 
has  covered  you  with  confusion  and  sadness. 

Within  a  few  months  a  portion  of  the  American  community, 
men,  women,  and  children,  were  compelled  by  American  citizens 
to  flee  from  burning  dwellings  in  the  night-time,  and  found  their 
way  to  the  woods  and  fields  by  the  light  of  the  flames  which  con- 
sumed not  only  their  dwellings,  but  also  their  libraries,  their  hos- 
pitals, their  churches,  and  their  altars.  The  ofi'ence  was  that  they 
or  their  ancestors  were  born  in  Ireland,  and  that  they  worshipped 
God  according  to  the  creed  and  ritual  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
church.  And  this  has  happened  in  the  city  that  was  founded  by 
William  Penn,  and  endowed  by  Benjamin  Franklin  —  in  the  city 
where  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence  was  promul- 
gated, and  where  the  American  constitution  was  established. 

These  great  wrongs,  the  outbreak  of  long-cherished  religious 
and  political  intolerance,  were  not  its  most  fearful  and  alarming 
incident.  Emboldened  by  popular  forbearance,  the  spirit  of  pro- 
scription has  approached  Congress,  with  a  demand  for  the  full 
disfranchisement  in  America  of  all  men  not  born  on  the  Ameri- 
can soil.  I  say  disfranchisement — for  twenty-one  years'  resi- 
dence, which  is  now  insisted  on,  as  a  condition  of  naturalization, 
would  be  virtual  disfranchisement. 

Exiles  of  Ireland  for  freedom  and  for  conscience'  sake,  you  are 
justly  alarmed  .and  grieved  by  such  wrongs  in  the  land  to  which 
you  were  invited  as  an  asylum. 

Simultaneously  with  these  misfortunes  here,  the  revolution  in 
your  own  country  has  been  arrested.  The  mass  meetings  which 
demonstrated  the  universal  uprising  of  Ireland,  and  gave  such 
nopes  of  her  speedy  restoration,  have  given  place  to  subdued  and 
anxious  but  fearful  gatherings  around  the  four  courts  where  her 


256  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

champions  have  been  on  trial  for  devotion  to  her  cause.  And 
O'Connell,  the  Washington  of  Ireland,  is  condemned  and  incar- 
cerated within  the  walls  of  a  prison.  The  obstreperous  sympa- 
thy which  cheered  you  a  year  ago  is  heard  no  more,  and  the  apol- 
ogists for  oppression  and  intolerance  rejoice  over  the  subjugation 
of  Ireland,  and  over  the  desolation  of  Irishmen  in  America.  I  obey 
your  summons  now  because  now  you  need  sympathy,  encourage- 
ment, and  assistance.  I  am  not,  however,  to  plead  your  cause,  for, 
if  I  could  plead  it  with  the  eloquence  of  O'Connell,  or  of  Shiel,  or 
of  Smith  O'Brien,  it  would  be  unnecessary  and  unavailing.  Those 
whom  discussion  could  convince,  are  convinced  already  —  con- 
vinced by  sympathies  and  affections  which  are  irrepressible  ;  those 
who  remain  unconvinced  can  only  be  made  the  friends  of  Ireland 
and  Irishmen  by  witnessing  the  constancy,  firmness,  fidelity,  and 
patriotism,  of  the  Irish  people.  I  have  not  heard  the  loud  and 
deep-toned  censures  upon  the  Philadelphia  wrongs,  and  upon  the 
recent  acts  of  British  oppression,  which  I  expected  from  the 
American  press  and  from  the  leaders  of  mind  in  America.  There- 
fore in  this  hour  of  trial  I  come  here  freely  to  declare  before  my 
countrymen  —  and  if  my  voice  could  reach  the  region  of  thrones, 
to  declare  before  principalities  and  powers — that  the  injuries  in- 
flicted upon  the  Irishmen  in  America  are  a  flagrant  violation  of 
law,  of  constitution,  of  liberty,  and  of  humanity.  I  know,  indeed, 
what  this  declaration  costs.  It  may,  indeed,  give  comfort  to  the 
poor  and  desponding  exile,  and  awaken  feelings  of  kindness  tow- 
ard me  in  his  bosom,  but  it  will  offend  very  many  of  my  own 
countrymen.  Be  it  so.  I  desire  the  respect  and  regard  of  my  own 
countrymen ;  but  I  would  rather  have  the  gratitude  of  one  de- 
sponding and  oppressed  fellow-man,  than  the  suffrage  of  the 
whole  American  people  given  to  me  in  consideration  of  denying 
any  true  principle  of  free  government,  or  repressing  any  impulse 
of  humanity. 

They  tell  us  that  an  Irishman  or  Irishmen  fired  upon  Ameri- 
can citizens  lawfully  assembled  and  peaceably  engaged  in  the 
discussion  of  subjects  affecting  the  public  welfare.  No  matter 
how  offensive  might  have  been  the  conduct  of  that  assemblage, 
nor  how  unjust  nor  how  irritating  its  discussions,  if  any  Irishman 
did  thus  assail  American  citizens,  I  disavow  him,  I  condemn  him, 
I  deliver  him  over  to  the  law  and  to  public  execration,  for  he  has 
committed  an  unpardonable  offence  against  the  law  and  liberty. 


IRELAND  AND  NATIVE  AMERICANS.  257 

But  the  accusation  is  denied.  They  are  the  strong  who  accuse  the 
weak,  the  victors  who  upbraid  the  conquered,  the  incendiaries 
who  revile  the  sufferers ;  therefore  I  wait  for  the  proofs,  and  sus- 
pend my  judgment  upon  the  accusation. 

But  grant  that  an  Irishman  or  Irishmen  did  commit  this  great 
offence — how  can  it  palliate  the  guilt  of  the  retaliation?  Wo- 
men, and  children,  and  ministers  of  religion,  were  hunted  from 
their  burning  dwellings  and  churches.  Did  the  library,  the  hos- 
pital, or  the  altar,  excite  to  violence  ?  Were  they  priests,  wo- 
men, and  children,  who  fired  upon  the  native  Americans  ? 

But  they  tell  us,  as  an  excuse  for  the  native-American  party, 
in  whose  name  these  crimes  were  committed,  that  the  Roman 
Catholics  of  Philadelphia  and  New  York  endeavored,  though  by 
constitutional  means,  to  exclude  the  Bible  from  the  public  schools. 
I  know  not  how  such  a  plea  can  bear  upon  the  issue.  But  I 
affirm  that  on  this  subject  I  have  ample  knowledge  and  informa- 
tion, and  I  declare  and  testify  before  my  country  and  the  world, 
that  the  charge  is  unjust  to  the  Roman  Catholics,' and  is  false  and 
calumnious. 

But  why  agitate  these  painful  subjects  ?  Because  they  involve 
immediately  the  rights  and  security  of  an  important  portion  of 
the  American  family,  and  ultimately  rights  important  to  the 
whole  American  people  and  to  mankind. 

The  Declaration  of  American  Independence  asserts  that  air 
men  are  free  and  equal,  and  have  inalienable  rights  of  life,  lib- 
erty, and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  Liberty  and  the  pursuit  of 
happiness  involve  the  right  of  free  immigration.  These  rights 
are  secured  under  the  constitution  and  laws,  by  the  power  of  suf- 
frage, and  not  otherwise.  No  matter,  then,  where  a  man  may- 
have  been  born,  nor  how  educated,  nor  how  elevated,  nor  how 
degraded,  unless  by  crime,  wherever  his  lot  is  cast  there  he  is  a 
subject,  and  because  a  subject  a  member  in  the  civil  state ;  and, 
as  a  condition  of  obedience  to  authority,  has  a  right  to  express 
his  choice  of  those  who  make  and  those  who  execute  the  laws. 
This  universal  right  of  suffrage  is  acknowledged  by  our  constitu- 
tion and  laws  in  regard  to  those  born  in  foreign  lands,  with  no 
other  conditions  than  those  of  residence,  morality,  and  loyalty, 
recited  in  the  oath  preliminary  to  naturalization. 

If  all  this  be  not  true,  the  Declaration  of  Independence  is  an 
invitation  to  deceive  and  to  betray  mankind.     This  right  of  suf- 

Vol.  ITT. — 1  7 


258  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

frage,  invaluable  to  every  citizen,  is  most  necessary  to  the  indi- 
gent, lowly  exile.  It  is  the  weapon  put  into  his  hands  by  society 
for  his  defence  and  protection  against  their  own  injustice  and  op- 
pression. Tell  me  not  that  he  was  born  in  indigence,  and  is  de- 
based by  ignorance,  and  by  oppression,  and  by  superstition. 
Grant  it  all.  So  much  the  more,  then,  do  I  demand  for  him  the 
lawful  employment  of  the  means  of  self-defence  and  protection 
which  the  constitution  has  placed  in  his  hands.  Tell  me  not  that 
he  does  not  know  how  to  exercise  his  suffrage  wisely.  Does  he 
not  know  how  to  lift  his  hand  if  you  menace?  how  to  strike  back 
if  you  assail  him?  There  is  an  instinct  which  teaches  this;  and 
that  instinc-t  unerringly  teaches  the  elector  so  to  cast  his  ballot 
as  to  preserve  his  own  domestic,  social,  and  political  position. 
For  his  own  happiness,  and  for  the  security  and  peace  of  society, 
I  would  indeed  wish  him  educated  and  instructed,  and  therefore 
I  would  render  knowledge  as  universal  as  suffrage.  But  I  would 
not  stipulate  for  the  knowledge  as  a  condition  of  suffrage.  Even 
despotism  might  consent  to  the  principle  of  democracy  with  such 
a  reservation.  I  have  never  known  that  state  where  the  power 
was  given,  that  knowledge  did  not  soon  follow.  I  have  never 
known  the  country  where,  if  the  power  was  withheld,  the  knowl- 
edge was  ever  obtained.  These  are  the  principles,  the  only  prin- 
ciples, by  which  liberty  can  be  extended  over  the  earth.  You 
may  hold  the  slave  in  bondage,  domestic  and  social,  if  you  can, 
but  let  me  put  the  ballot  in  his  hand,  and  you  shall  see  him  speed- 
ily rise  to  freedom,  to  knowledge,  and  to  happiness. 

Believe  not,  fellow-citizens,  that  this  is  a  question  which  inter- 
ests or  concerns  only  the  voluntary  citizen.  The  work  of  disfran- 
chisement once  effectually  begun,  would  not  cease  with  the  de- 
basement of  one  class  or  condition  of  men  ;  other  classes  would 
follow,  and  oligarchy  be  succeeded  by  despotism.  Nor  is  this  all. 
Let  the  wise  men  who  favor  this  disfranchisement  tell  us  how 
they  expect  to  secure  the  subordination  of  the  disfranchised  clas- 
ses. They  can  not  be  expelled ;  they  must  increase  — they  increase 
by  virtue  of  the  irresistible  and  unchangeable  laws  of  God.  They 
can  not  be  degraded  to  domestic  slavery,  and  unless  so  degraded, 
they  can  not  be  held  in  subjection  to  authority,  except  in  one  or 
two  ways,  by  their  own  voluntary  consent,  or  by  military  force. 
Standing  armies  no  man  dare  defend  :  disfranchised  men  will  not 
yield  voluntary  obedience. 


IRELAND  AND  NATIVE  AMERICANS.  259 

The  revolution  in  Ireland  is  the  result  of  the  same  principles 
adopted  by  the  people  of  that  country  as  the  remedy  for  evils 
long  endured  and  now  intolerable.  In  our  judgment  a  mere  res- 
toration of  the  ancient  Irish  parliament,  subordinate  to  the  royal 
power,  might  be  an  inadequate  security  for  liberty ;  and  it  might 
not  work  harmoniously  with  the  British  constitution.  We  have 
no  responsibility  on  these  questions.  The  movement  of  the  Irish 
people  is  toward  nationality  and  freedom.  Their  chiefs,  not  we, 
must  define  the  object,  and  the  manner  and  end,  of  the  revolution. 
If  they  aim  too  high,  they  need  our  sympathy,  that  they  may 
reach  the  attainable  elevation.  If  they  aim  too  low,  our  sympa- 
thy may  well  be  rendered,  in  the  hope  that,  as  circumstances 
shall  favor,  they  may  ultimately  pass  the  bounds  now  assigned, 
and  reach  the  perfection  of  national  freedom. 

We  need  not  prove  the  wrongs  of  Ireland.  They  are  written 
on  the  careworn  brows,  and  in  the  stooping  gait  and  meek  and 
humble  demeanor,  of  her  sons  and  daughters,  received  among 
ourselves.  Nations  are  never  depopulated  by  prosperity,  and 
prosperity  never  humbles  a  people  as  these  are  humbled !  We 
need  not  fear  that  the  people  of  Ireland  are  incapable  of  self- 
government.  To  assert  this,  is  to  deny  our  own  constitution. 
They  have  proved  that  they  could  do  what  no  other  people  have 
done — reclaim  themselves  from  national  vices,  and  control  them- 
selves with  moderation  in  the  very  excitement  of  political  revolu- 
tion. But  I  declared  I  would  not  argue  the  cause  of  repeal.  Be 
of  good  heart,  then,  my  friends :  reactions  are  as  unavoidable  in 
the  moral  world  as  in  nature.  The  storm  follows  the  calm,  and 
the  sun  breaks  forth  after  the  darkest  night.  Ignorance  maintains 
an  almost  equal  conflict  with  knowledge,  and  benevolence  never 
enjoys  uninterrupted  progress.  Take  courage,  then,  for  your 
cause  in  America,  and  for  the  cause  of  your  country  at  home. 
O'Connell  is  clothed  by  the  sympathies  of  mankind  with  new 
might  in  his  misfortunes,  and  his  voice  will  acquire  the  velocity 
and  the  power  of  electricity  in  the  passage  through  the  bars  of 
his  prison.  The  American  people  will  be  generous  to  the  exile, 
because  he  has  suffered  injustice  at  their  hands.  The  ruins  of 
St.  Augustine  will  be  the  grave  of  religious  and  political  intoler- 
ance ;  and  its  epitaph  is  read  in  the  fearful  inscription  that  re- 
mains undefaced  on  the  crumbling  walls  of  that  temple :  "  Thb 
Lord  seeth." 


260  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


SPEECH  AT  A   WHIG  MASS   MEETING. 

YATES   COUNTY,    OCTOBER   29,    1844. 

Fellow-Citizens  : 

The  speech  that  should  review,  in  sixty  or  ninety  minutes,  ther 
great  questions  in  issue  before  the  people  of  the  United  States,, 
must  necessarily  be  superficial. 

This  is  no  time  for  praise  or  censure  of  men.  Adulation  of  our 
own  candidate  is  always  indiscreet.  Even  just  reflections  upon 
opposing  candidates  prejudice  their  friends  against  our  policy 
and  principles. 

Bolingbroke,  who  promulgated  many  pernicious  theological 
opinions,  wisely  taught  that  it  was  the  duty  of  statesmen  contin- 
ually to  regenerate  the  first  principles  of  the  constitution.  In  a 
republic  the  statesman's  responsibilities  devolve  upon  every  citi- 
zen. The  present  bearing  of  public  measures  is  indeed  impor- 
tant, but  the  ultimate  tendencies  of  administration  are  of  vastly 
greater  consequence.  Our  forefathers  well  understood  that  they 
were  laying  the  foundations  of  a  vast  empire,  an  empire  which  they 
hoped  and  trusted  would  be  perpetual.  We  have  inherited  this 
ambition,  and  we  dream  and  hope,  like  them,  that  our  country  is 
immortal.  In  this  light,  we  twenty  millions  are  but  shadows, 
passing  over  the  stage  that  is  soon  to  be  trodden  by  two  hundred 
millions.  We  shall  be  none  the  less  wise,  in  regard  to  immediate 
interests,  for  regarding  all  public  questions  in  the  light  of  the 
destinies  that  we  fondly  believe  await  our  country. 

A  reference  to  cotemporaneous  expositions  would  show  that 
the  founders  of  the  constitution  esteemed  public  order,  peace, 
improvement  of  the  intellectual  capacities  of  the  people,  devel- 
opment and  improvement  of  their  agricultural,  forest,  mineral, 
and  commercial  resources,  freedom  from  unnecessary  and  oner- 
ous burdens  of  debt  and  taxes,  political  equality  between  all  the 
subjects  of  authority,  and  the  union  of  the  states,  as  indispensa- 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  261 

!>le  conditions  of  the  stability  and  success  of  the  American  re- 
public. 

Parties  are  incident  to  popular  government.  Two  parties  exist 
now,  as  two  have  always  existed,  and  always  will.  Each  of  them 
as  a  majority,  by  turns,  controls  the  administration  of  govern- 
ment, and,  as  a  minority,  exercises  a  salutary  restraint  upon  the 
controlling  party.  We  can  only  reach  the  administration,  and 
influence  its  course,  through  one  or  the  other  of  these  parties. 
To  attach  ourselves  to  a  third  party,  which  has  not  and  can  not, 
while  the  others  last,  have  a  representation  in  the  public  coun- 
cils, is  to  renounce,  for  the  present  at  least,  the  right  of  interfe- 
rence in  public  affairs. 

How  stand  the  two  great  parties,  then,  in  relation  to  the  endu- 
ring principles  of  our  government  which  have  been  set  forth? 

Public  order  is  the  first  instinct  of  the  whig  party.  They  have 
never  sacrificed  order  or  written  law,  whether  organic  or  tempo- 
rary, to  expediency.  A  popular  mass,  constituting  a  large  por- 
tion of  what  is  now  the  whig  party,  a  few  years  since,  vindicated 
the  majesty  of  the  law  and  the  rights  of  citizenship,  by  one  of 
those  regenerating  eiforts  which  alwa}rs  give  reliable  assurance 
that  "  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people  are  destined  to  en- 
sure." Are  the  opposing  party  equally  favorable  to  the  ascen- 
dency of  law  and  order?  They  exhibited  no  sensibility  on  the 
great  occasion  to  which  I  have  alluded.  They  trampled  the 
broad  seal  of  one  of  the  members  of  the  confederacy  under  foot, 
in  the  house  of  representatives,  to  secure  a  party  advantage  there. 
Their  senators  have  in  more  than  one  instance  refused  to  meet 
adverse  political  houses  of  assembly  or  representatives,  as  re- 
quired by  the  constitution  and  law,  to  appoint  senators  to  repre- 
sent states  in  the  senate  of  the  United  States.  The  whig  Con- 
gress of  1840  enacted  a  law  requiring  that  representatives  should 
be  chosen  in  single  districts.  The  succeeding  Congress,  contain- 
ing an  adverse  majority,  nullified  that  great  democratic  law. 
South  Carolina  once  arrayed  herself  against  the  government,  and 
set  her  sister-states  at  defiance.  The  statesmen  who  projected 
this  treason  are  high  and  honored  in  the  ranks  of  the  party  with 
which  we  are  contending.  An  attempt  has  been  made  to  sub- 
vert the  republican  government  of  Rhode  Island,  and  to  erect 
another  in  its  place,  without  sanction  of  the  people,  and  by  force. 
This  treason  was  openly  approved  by  our  opponents,  and  its 


262  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

convicted  leader  enjoys  their  sympathy  in  his  lawful  punish* 
ment. 

Think  not  that  the  public  order  is  of  little  moment.  Tyrannyr 
despotism,  monarchy  in  every  form,  and  even  aristocracy,  all  have- 
no  plea  but  the  alleged  incapacity  of  democratic  states  to  pre- 
serve public  order.  France,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  tried 
a  republic,  based  like  ours  on  the  principles  of  liberty  and  equal- 
ity, forgetting  the  element  of  order.  Her  consequent  calamities 
constitute  the  saddest  chapter  in  the  history  of  our  race.  In 
1830,  France  renewed  the  experiment,  but  she  had  not  grown 
wiser.  If  you  had  visited  France  then,  you  would  have  seen 
that,  under  the  teachings  of  the  illustrious  La  Fayette,  the  repub- 
licans incorporated  a  new  word  in  their  revolutionary  war-cry ; 
and  everywhere  throughout  France,  even  to  this  day,  you  will 
see  displayed  the  motto  of  the  glorious  and  memorable  Revolu- 
tion of  the  Three  Days:  "Liberie  et  ordre publ/'que." 

The  intellectual  improvement  of  society  by  popular  education 
seems  to  have  obtained  the  unanimous  favor  of  the  people.  It 
would  be  thought  a  bold  allegation  to  assert  that  anything  re- 
mains to  be  done,  and  an  unjust  charge  to  impute  to  any  party 
indifference  in  regard  to  this  great  object.  Yet  I  may  neverthe- 
less justly  remind  you  that  our  boasted  system  of  public  instruc- 
tion, even  in  our  own  state,  has  thus  far  only  been  effective  in 
furnishing  means  and  facilities  for  acquiring  knowledge,  while 
philosophical,  moral,  and  political  science,  are  at  least  very  im- 
perfectly disseminated  generally  by  our  schools  and  other  semi- 
naries. You  all  are  witnesses  for  me,  also,  that  recently  necessary- 
efforts  to  extend  the  benefits  of  popular  education  to  classes  of 
citizens  overlooked  and  neglected,  encountered  religious  opposi- 
tion almost  insurmountable.  Nor  can  you  forget  that  two  and 
a  half  millions,  or  one  eighth  of  our  whole  population,  being  held 
in  domestic  slavery,  are  by  state  policy  denied  even  elementary 
instruction.  I  claim  for  the  whig  party  that,  under  the  auspices 
of  such  men  as  Adams  and  Clinton,  universal  education  is  made 
a  prominent  responsibility  of  government;  and,  while  I  do  not 
say  that  our  opponents  disavow  this  responsibility,  I  submit 
whether  you  find  them  equally  zealous  and  effective.  Experience 
has  shown  that  in  the  most  enlightened  condition  of  human  so- 
ciety, any  system  of  public  education  must  have  an  adequate 
fiscal  foundation.     Such  has  been  the  fact  in  New  York,  and  in 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.         '•■  263 

Connecticut,  and  in  Massachusetts,  each  of  which  states  has  de- 
voted large  treasures  to  the  support  of  public  schools.  Most  of 
the  states  are  destitute  of  such  a  system,  and  of  available  means 
to  endow  one. 

The  whig  party,  following  the  counsels  of  Washington  and  Jef- 
ferson, regard  the  national  domain  as  a  patrimony  of  right,  divisi- 
ble among  the  states,  to  be  devoted  by  them  first  and  chiefly  to 
the  foundation  of  systems  of  universal  education.  That  policy 
lias  been  partially  adopted  in  this  state.  Four  and  a  half  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  derived  from  that  domain,  constitute  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  endowment  of  our  common  schools ;  and  the  state 
enjoys  a  library  of  a  million  of  volumes,  established  with  the 
same  fund,  and  distributed  throughout  all  the  school-districts. 
The  opposing  party  deny  the  lawfulness,  right,  or  expediency,  of 
such  an  application  of  that  patrimony.  They  insist  that  what  lias 
been  already  appropriated  does  not  of  right  belong  to  the  states, 
but  ought  to  be  restored,  and  they  make  it  a  cardinal  point  of 
their  policy  to  prohibit  any  further  division  of  the  lands  or  reve- 
nues of  the  public  domain,  while  they  maintain  also  that  Con- 
gress can  not  and  ought  not  to  employ  those  lands  or  revenues 
otherwise  than  for  the  current  expenses  of  administering  the  gov- 
ernment. Let  the  people  judge  whether  we  have  not  richly  re- 
paid the  confederacy  for  all  we  have  received,  and  let  £hem  decide 
further  to  which  party  they  can  most  safely  and  wisely  confide 
the  cause  of  popular  education. 

I  am  sure  you  will  not  think  I  exaggerate  the  importance  of 
this  subject.  It  not  only  appeals  to  us  by  the  consideration  of 
preserving  public  virtue,  but  also  engages  in  its  behalf  the  great 
national  sentiment  and  principles  of  equality.  Universal  educa- 
tion is  the  great  agrarian  agent — the  leveller  we  must  use  to 
prevent  wealth  and  power  from  building  up  aristocratic  institu- 
tions, and  dividing  society  into  unequal  classes. 

For  the  development  and  improvement  of  the  natural  resources 
with  which  God  has  blessed  the  land  in  which  our  lot  is  cast,  the 
first  element  is  population  —  population  increasing  by  natural 
augmentation  and  by  immigration.  Both  of  these  depend,  in 
every  country,  upon  the  rewards  of  labor,  or  wages :  — 

"111  fares  the  land,  to  every  ill  a  prey, 
When  wealth  accumulates,  and  when  men  decay." 


264  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

To  secure  high  rewards  to  labor,  or  high  wages,  it  is  manifest 
that  all  must  not  be  confined  to  one  department,  but  that  the 
many  and  various  departments  of  labor  in  civilized  life  must  be 
opened.  Agriculture  is  the  most  obvious  and  natural  field  of 
human  labor,  and  all  the  producing  mass  of  society  must  pursue 
it  if  mechanical  avocations  are  neglected.  But  all  other  regions 
of  the  world  are,  as  a  general  fact,  capable  of  supplying  their  in- 
habitants with  breadstuff's  as  cheaply  or  more  cheaply  than  we 
can  furnish  them.  The  surplus  we  produce  being  therefore  ne- 
cessarily sold  at  home,  exceeds  the  demand,  and  of  course  prices 
are  low,  and  the  rewards  of  the  laborer  are  inadequate.  For  this 
evil  there  is  no  other  remedy  but  to  establish  all  the  mechan- 
ical departments  among  ourselves.  Those  who  are  engaged  in 
such  departments  no  longer  compete  with  the  farming  classes, 
and,  on  the  contrary,  depend  on  them  for  supplies,  for  which  they 
yield  liberal  prices,  because  their  own  mechanical  labors  are  lib- 
erally rewarded.  I  think  this  subject  is  well  understood  here  in 
regard  to  one  department.  When  passing  through  this  flourish- 
ing village  a  few  weeks  ago,  a  voice  called  to  me,  and  invited 
me  into  a  long,  low,  ordinary  building.  When  I  entered,  I  found 
twelve  shoemakers,  each  sitting  on  his  shop-bench,  plying  the 
'•  waxed  end."  I  passed  among  them,  receiving  the  extended 
hand  of  each,  and  when  the  introductions  were  finished,  the  mas- 
ter-workman said,  "  Mr.  Seward,  these  are  all  wliigs." 

By  reason  of  the  operation  of  the  tariff,  our  boots  and  shoes 
are  now  made  exclusively  in  our  own  country  and  by  our  own 
countrymen.  Thus  the  shoemakers  have  good  reasons  for  being 
wliigs.  Now  suppose,  on  the  contrary,  that  we  depend  on  Eng- 
land and  France  for  our  boots  and  shoes :  is  it  not  apparent  that 
our  own  mechanics  now  engaged  in  this  manufacture  would 
chiefly  be  employed  in  agriculture,  and  diminish  its  profits  by 
1)  jing  producers  instead  of  consumers  ?  What  is  true  of  the  shoe- 
makers is  equally  true  of  the  hatters;  for,  although  material 
abounds  on  our  own  continent,  we  should  be  dependent  on  Euro- 
pean mechanics  for  hats,  but  for  the  operation  of  the  tariff.  Here, 
then,  is  another  numerous  class  contributing  to  the  rewards  of 
agriculture,  instead  of  depreciating  them.  Is  there  any  reason 
why  the  same  principle  should  not  be  applied  in  the  supply  of 
all  our  domestic  wants?  We  have  abundance  of  iron  and  coal; 
and  yet,  until  the  present  tariff-law  went  into  operation,  we  were 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  265 

dependent  on  the  mines  of  Sweden,  and  the  mechanics  of  Bir- 
mingham and  Sheffield,  for  not  merely  rails  for  our  iron  roads  and 
for  implements  of  art,  but  for  shovels  and  tongs  for  our  kitchen- 
iireplaces,  and  even  for  the  knives  and  forks  with  which  we  ate 
our  daily  bread. 

Now,  to  look  up  from  this  humble  illustration  to  the  great 
ends  of  American  society,  how  obvious  is  it  that  without  home 
manufactures  our  national  independence  must  not  only  be  incom- 
plete, but  that  the  increase  of  population,  and  the  rapid  settle- 
ment and  civilization  of  our  unoccupied  territory,  depend  on  the 
•encouragement  and  protection  of  honest  industry  in  opposition  to 
labor  in  European  countries  !  The  great  principle  of  the  protec- 
tive policy  is,  that  home  markets  are  necessary  to  sustain  home 
industry.  No  one  doubts  this  in  the  ordinary  business  of  society. 
How  often  does  the  farmer  take  out  a  tavern-license,  to  secure  to 
himself  a  market  at  the  doors  of  his  own  grocery !  The  great 
object  is  to  save  expense  of  transportation  and  commissions.  If 
you  go  to  a  distant  market,  you  ask  the  question,  '  How  much 
will  you  give  V  If  the  purchaser  finds  you  at  home,  he  asks  you 
the  question,  'How  much  will  you  takeV 

The  protective  policy  is  a  cardinal  principle  of  political  science 
as  received  by  the  whig  party.  No  man  denies  this.  On  the 
■contrary,  the  most  that  our  opponents  ever  claim  is  that  they  are 
not  unfriendly  to  the  same  policy.  But  they  at  least  are  not 
agreed.  I  do  not  say  that  every  one  of  that  party  is  an  advocate 
of  free  trade,  but  I  do  say  that  every  advocate  of  free  trade  be- 
longs to  that  party.  That  party,  and  not  the  whigs,  abolished 
the  protective  principle  and  established  the  revenue  principle, 
by  the  compromise-law  of  1832.  The  representatives  of  that 
party  most  generally  opposed  the  present  tariff-law  in  its  passage, 
and  those  who  gave  it  their  support  did  so  with  qualifications. 
Mr.  Yan  Buren,  their  late  chief,  declared  himself  opposed  to  both 
its  principles  and  its  details.  Mr.  Polk,  their  present  leader,  dis- 
owns the  principle  of  protection,  and  insists  on  that  of  revenue. 
Last  winter  the  whole  party  clamored  against  the  present  tariff 
"because  it  did  not  produce  revenue  enough.  Now  a  large  por- 
tion of  them  denounce  it  because  it  produces  too  much.  In  short, 
the  nullifier  of  Carolina  looks  to  the  same  party  for  the  overthrow 
of  the  principle  of  protection,  that  here  in  New  York  hesitatingly 
claim  to  be  its  supporters  and  advocates ! 


266  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

Bu£I  may  not  dwell  on  this  subject,  although  it  constitutes  so 
important  an  issue  in  the  present  canvass.  What  I  wish  to  im- 
press on  your  minds  is  that,  human  labor  is  the  great  agent  to 
work  out  the  destinies  of  the  country,  and  that  in  this  country 
the  laborers  are  of  two  classes — the  white  and  the  black — the 
bond  and  the  free — that  the  opposing  party  deny  protection  and 
encouragement  to  the  wrhite  and  the  free,  while  they  insist  on 
continuing,  for  ever,  the  ignorance,  incapacity,  and  slavery,  of  the 
bondman. 

Another  fundamental  principle  of  our  democratic  government 
was,  that  the  country  must  be  supplied  with  adequate  facilities  for 
defence,  for  travel,  for  migration,  and  for  the  purposes  of  inland 
trade.  These  facilities  were  to  be  afforded,  in  the  language  of 
Washington  and  Jefferson,  by  improving  roads  and  rivers,  which 
they  regarded  not  merely  as  necessary  for  the  growth  of  empire, 
but  as  means  of  binding  the  states  in  an  indissoluble  union  of 
affection  and  interest.  I  need  not  show  you  how  beneficently 
this  great  policy  has  operated  thus  far — you,  the  people  of  Yates 
county,  owe  four  fifths  of  your  present  population,  wealth,  knowl- 
edge, and  refinement,  to  the  system  of  internal  improvement,  as 
established  in  the  state  of  New  York. 

I  know  that  this  theme  is  not  now  in  high  favor.  But  I  pray 
you  to  consider  it,  my  fellow-citizens !  Transfer  yourselves  to  the 
point  where  we  have  tapped  the  lakes,  or  to  the  junction  of  the 
Ohio  and  the  Mississippi,  or  to  Albany,  where  Massachusetts  has 
interlocked  her  iron  roads  with  our  own,  then  tell  me  whether  the 
Union,  established  as  a  political  institution,  and  secured  at  first 
by  compact  alone,  has  not  been  cemented,  and  converted  into  a 
lasting,  social,  connection,  by  internal  improvements — by  internal 
improvements  not  made  or  established  by  mere  private  cupidity, 
but  by  them  as  system  commenced  and  to  be  perfected,  under 
the  direct  care,  and  with  the  revenues  of  government. 

How  stand  the  parties  in  regard  to  this  great  subject?  The 
whig  party  have  abided  by  the  policy  in  the  federal  and  state 
governments,  have  adhered  to  it  when  it  was  popular,  and  gone 
down  with  it  when  it  lost  favor.  The  other  party  abandoned  it, 
first  in  the  federal  councils,  and  then  in  this  state ;  and  now  it  is 
banished  from  among  the  responsibilities  of  government.  I  have 
not  time  here  to  review  their  arguments.  Plausible  pretexts  are 
always  found  by  every  government,  even  the  most  arbitrary,  for 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  267 

any  departure  from  wise,  humane,  or  benevolent  policy.  What- 
ever calamities  have  befallen  nations,  the  statesmen  who  brought 
them  on  were  seldom  unable  to  plead  excuses,  which,  for  the  time,, 
satisfied  the  people.  There  are,  however,  enduring  monuments- 
which  reproach  us  with  our  departure  from  the  fundamental 
policy  of  the  government  in  this  respect.  The  exhortations  of 
Washington  and  Jefferson,  were  rhapsodies  of  political  enthu- 
siasm ;  and  the  fame,  of  Clinton,  that  constitutes  so  large  a  part 
of  our  own  renown,  throughout  the  world,  is  a  cheat  and  delusion,, 
or  else  all  the  arguments  of  Mr.  Hoffman,  and  of  Colonel  Youngs 
are  unsound,  deceptive,  and  erroneous. 

Freedom  from  unnecessary  and  onerous  burdens  of  debt  and 
taxes,  is,  by  common  consent,  an  indispensable  condition  of  na- 
tional progress.  The  nation  commenced  its  existence  oppressed 
with  a  great  debt,  a  part  of  the  cost  of  the  Revolution.  This 
debt,  partially  paid  off  in  a  long  season  of  peace,  rose  again  in 
the  war  of  1812,  to  two  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  And  yet  in 
the  year  1830,  it  was  extinguished.  How  was  it  paid  ?  By  a 
tariff-law  imposing  duties  on  imposts,  for  the  protection  of  home 
industry.  But  in  turn,  the  tariff-law  gave  place  to  what  was  called 
a  revenue-law,  which  rejected  the  principle  of  protection.  What 
happened  then?  In  the  short  space  of  half  a  dozen  years,  with- 
out the  calamities  of  foreign  war,  a  debt  of  thirty -five  millions  of 
dollars  was  incurred.  The  whig  tariff  system  was  re-established 
in  1842,  and  the  debt  is  now  diminishing  as  rapidly  as  it  was 
created.  If,  then,  you  wish  to  secure  the  country  against  the 
evil  of  an  overshadowing  and  exhausting  public  debt,  the  whig 
policy  is  the  only  reliable  preventive. 

The  first  want  of  every  nation  is  peace,  the  last  is  peace.  It 
wants  peace  always.  So  our  forefathers  understood  the  philoso- 
phy of  government;  for  they  established  a  system  which  dis- 
pensed with  even  the  forces  necessary  for  perfect  defence,  rather 
than  cumber  it  with  such  as  might  tempt  it  to  unnecessary 
collision  with  other  states.  A  democratic  government  has  no- 
adaptation  to  war.  War  involves  a  nation  in  debt,  and  requires 
vast  supplies  of  men  and  taxes,  and  self-taxing  people  will  not, 
except  when  absolutely  obliged  by  the  exigencies  of  danger,  vote 
either  one  or  the  other.  Our  government  has  not  effective 
powers  of  conscription.  No  modern  state  has  carried  on,  or  can 
carry  on,  aggressive  war  without  conscription.     War,  however 


268  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

brief  its  duration,  and  however  light  its  calamities,  deranges  all 
social  industry,  subverts  order,  and  corrupts  public  morals. 

The  first  element,  then,  of  our  social  happiness  and  security,  is 
peace.      How  stand   the   parties   in  this   great  question?     The 
senate  of  the  United  States  has  refused  to  ratify  a  treaty  for  the 
engrafting  of  Texas  into  the  American  empire.     Our  opponents 
have  appealed  from  that  decree  of  the  senate  to  the  people.     The 
whig  party  sustains  it.     The  other  party  declare  that  the  annexa- 
tion of  Texas  is  a  "  great  democratic  measure  to  be  effected  as 
speedily  as  possible."     But  war  exists  between  the  state  of  Texas 
and  the  republic  of  Mexico.     An  army  was  moved  by  the  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  to  repel  the  Mexicans  from  the  territory 
of  Texas,  and  a  navy  repaired,  by  his  orders,  to  Vera  Cruz,  to 
engage  with  the  Mexican  navy  in  a  conflict  anticipated,  on  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty.     Mexico  is  now  invading  the  state  of 
Texas,  and  Texas  is  preparing  to  resist  the  invasion,  with  what 
ability  it  may.     Now  it  is  proposed  that  we  extend  our  jurisdic- 
tion over  Texas,  making  that  state  a  member  of  our  confederacy. 
We  should  thus  not  only  become  a  party  to  the  war,  but  we 
should  take  the  place  of  one  of  the  belligerents.     Am  I  answered 
that  the  Spanish  Americans  are  weak  and  harmless,  I  reply  that 
conflict  with  them  is,  nevertheless,  war,  and  that  is  inevitable. 
In  the  judgment  of  the  founder  of  the  American  empire,  the 
world  would  not  be  worth  to  us  the  cost  of  a  war  of  conquest 
with  the  weakest  state  it  contains.     But  Mexico  is  inured  to  war, 
we  to  peace.     The  war  would  be  unjust,  and,  therefore,  would  not 
•engage  the  support  of  our  own  people,  while  it  would  involve  us 
in  the  censures  of  Christendom.     Whatever  pretexts  may  be 'set 
up  to  excuse  it,  it  would  be  a  war  to  defend  and  perpetuate 
•slavery.     This  is  true  of  our  government,  as  the  object  of  annexa- 
tion, and  in  such  a  war  "  the  Almighty  has  no  attribute  which 
-could  engage  him  to  favor  our  arms." 

I  will  not  exaggerate  the  case  by  supposing  what,  nevertheless, 
is  probable,  that  Great  Britain,  as  true  to  the  instincts  of  liberty, 
as  in  such  a  war  we  should  be  false,  as  jealous  of  us  as  we  are 
of  her,  must  come  into  alliance  with  Mexico.  If  there  be  any 
truth  in  the  alarm  which  the  advocates  of  Texas  sound  in  our 
ears  in  regard  to  the  designs  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  principles 
of  her  interference,  the  mistress  of  the  seas  would  desire  no  other 
pretext  for  such  an  alliance,  than  our  adoption  of  Texas  with  its 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  269 

slavery.  But  be  the  disposition  of  Great  Britain,  or  other  Euro- 
pean states  what  it  may,  are  we  ready  for  war?  Do  we  de- 
sire to  draw  down  upon  ourselves  its  calamities?  People  of 
Fates  county !  Citizens  of  western  New  York  !  are  you  weary 
of  tranquillity,  of  prosperity,  and  of  the  blessings  that  God  has 
crowned  you  with  so  abundantly  ?  You,  into  whose  firesides  no 
emissary  of  conscription  has  ever  entered,  in  whose  fields  the  tax- 
gatherer  is  almost  unknown,  you,  who  have  never  seen  soldiers, 
nor  sentinels,  even  of  your  own  government ;  you,  who  are 
founding,  every  day,  new  schools,  churches,  temperance  associa- 
tions, and  missionary  societies,  do  you  want  war  ?  I  know  better. 
When  this  political  excitement  shall  have  passed  by,  you  will 
wonder  that  you  should  ever  have  allowed  a  debate  which  in- 
volved such  a  catastrophe. 

Our  opponents  often  insist  that  women  have  no  place  in  politi- 
cal assemblies.  But  I  will  tell  them  the  secret  why  women  are 
here,  and  why  they  will  remain  in  our  assemblies.  A  question 
of  peace  and  war  is  thrust  upon  us.  They,  by  their  teachings  of 
the  young,  and  by  their  persuasions  addressed  to  all,  influence 
the  decree  of  the  people,  which  is  registered  in  the  ballot-box.  I 
tell  the  advocates  of  war  that  their  countrywomen  are  God's  min- 
isters of  peace  to  our  country  ;  and  in  a  Christian  land,  where 
universal  suffrage  prevails,  their  ministry  will  prevail,  and  this 
country  will  not,  can  not  be  plunged  into  war,  unless  the  call  to 
arms  be  made  in  a  cause  in  which  we  can  invoke  the  blessings 
of  the  Almighty. 

Universal  political  equality  among  all  the  subjects  of  the  gov- 
ernment was  proclaimed  in  the  very  outset  of  the  Revolution  as; 
an  element  of  this  democracy.  The  principle  was  asserted,  but 
it  was  only  partially  established.  Some  two  hundred  thousand 
of  the  people  were  held  in  political  subjection  and  domestic  bond- 
age. But  there  was  not  one  of  the  founders  of  the  state  who  did 
not  contemplate  the  speedy  perfection  of  democratic  equality  by 
the  abolition  of  African  slavery.  That  humane  and  public  ex- 
pectation has  been  delayed.  Our  forefathers  thought  that  slavery 
would  languish  and  die  when  the  foreign  slave-trade,  its  life- 
spring,  should  be  suppressed,  and  they  provided  for  that  suppres- 
sion. But  a  domestic  slave-trade  has  taken  the  place  of  the  Af- 
rican commerce.  Slavery  is  the  bane  of  our  social  condition. 
It  divides  the  empire  into  two  portions,  between  whom  it  perpet- 


270  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

uallj  prevents  any  harmony  of  fiscal  economy.  It  arrays  the 
south  against  the  north.  It  exposes  us  to  danger. from  abroad, 
and  has  once  brought  the  country  to  the  verge  of  disunion.  All 
these  evils  happen  because  slavery  is  an  aristocratic  institution 
compared  with  our  democracy.  It  secures  to  the  owner  of  one 
hundred  slaves  political  power  equal  to  that  of  sixty  freemen  of 
the  free  states ;  and  to  twelve  states,  of  less  population  than  New 
York  and  Ohio,  six  times  as  many  senators  and  twice  as  many 
delegates  as  those  two  great  free  states  are  allowed  to  send  to  the 
house  of  representatives.  Notwithstanding  the  institution  of  the 
domestic  slave-trade,  and  the  purchase  of  the  slave-territory  of 
Louisiana,  slavery  languishes  and  approaches  its  end. 

The  conscience  of  the  people  is  aroused.  The  laws  of  political 
economy,  combining  with  the  inevitable  tendencies  of  popula- 
tion, are  hastening  emancipation,  and  all  the  labors  of  statesmen 
and  politicians  to  prevent  it  are  ineffectual.  And  now  in  this 
crisis,  so  auspicious  to  our  country,  to  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  to 
the  cause  of  humanity,  a  new  effort  is  made  to  re-establish  and 
perpetuate  slavery.  The  boundaries  of  the  domestic  slave-trade 
are  found  too  narrow  to  encourage  the  home  production  of  slaves. 
A  slave-buying  district,  lying  along  the  borders  of  a  slave-breed- 
ing region,  with  a  prolific  soil  and  temperate  climate,  and  ample 
for  the  domestication  of  six  or  seven  millions  of  slaves,  must  be 
bought  and  annexed  to  the  republic !  It  is  hoped  that  slavery, 
which  is  now  exhausting  the  soil  it  has  cursed  so  long,  will  re- 
lieve that  region  by  spreading  itself  over  the  new  domain,  while 
at  the  same  time  the  danger  of  domestic  insurrection  will  be 
diminished,  and  foreign  instigation  of  the  slaves  will  be  effectu- 
ally prevented. 

The  dangers  to  result  from  this  alarming  measure  can  scarcely 
be  exaggerated.  Besides  the  hazard  of  war  to  which  I  have  al- 
ready adverted,  there  are  those  of  dissensions  among  the  states. 
If  the  slaveholding  states  hardly  submit  to  the  administration  of 
the  government,  dependent  as  they  are  on  the  free  states,  will 
they  adhere  when  they  shall  have  acquired  such  augmented 
forces  ?  If  the  north  and  west  are  harassed  to  the  utmost  bounds 
of  endurance  by  the  evils  of  slavery,  who  shall  answer  for  even 
their  fidelity  when  their  interests  can  be  no  longer  protected  ? 
The  constitution  is  now  a  democracy,  with  an  aristocracy  too 
feeble  to  derange  the  machine  altogether.     Then  it  will  be  a  slave- 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  271 

holding  aristocracy,  combining  democratic  elements  of  inferior 
force. 

Fellow-citizens,  are  you  willing  to  come  under  more  complete 
subjection  to  such  an  aristocracy  ?  As  for  me,  if  my  children 
must  bend  their  necks  to  an  aristocracy,  let  it  be  the  aristocracy 
of  family  authority,  like  that  of  the  patriarchs  of  old,  or  of  clans, 
like  what  until  recently  prevailed  among  the  mountains  of  Scot- 
land; or  let  it  be  an  aristocracy  of  rank  conferred  for  services  to 
our  country  in  the  tented  field;  or  for  philosophical  discoveries 
and  inventions  in  science  and  the  arts,  as  it  theoretically  is  in  the 
land  whose  barons  extorted  our  Magna  Charta  from  King  John ! 
But,  in  the  name  of  all  that  is  valuable  in  human  liberty,  let  it 
not  be  an  aristocracy  of  wealth.  And  if  it  must  be  an  aristoc- 
racy of  wealth,  let  that  wealth  consist  in  broad  acres  of  our  native 
soil  —  of  forests,  mineral  and  pasture  land,  and  of  lakes  and 
islands  —  or  at  least  let  it  consist  in  flocks  and  herds  upon  our 
thousand  hills. 

Whatever  else  may  happen,  let  us  be  spared  from  subjugation 
to  an  aristocracy  of  wealth  consisting  of  human  bones,  sinews, 
and  veins  —  consisting  of  the  bodies  and  souls  of  our  countrymen  ! 

And  what  is  this  slave-trade  that  we  must  favor  and  protect 
with  such  sacrifices  ?  I  have  seen  something  of  it.  Resting  one 
morning  at  an  inn  in  Virginia,  I  saw  a  woman,  blind  and  decrepit 
with  age,  turning  the  ponderous  wheel  of  a  machine  on  the  lawn, 
and  overheard  this  conversation  between  her  and  my  fellow-trav- 
eller:  "Is  not  that  very  hard  work?"  —  "Why  yes,  mistress,  but 
I  must  do  something ;  and  this  is  all  I  can  do  now,  I  am  so  old." 

—  "How  old  are  you?"  —  "I  do  not  know;  past  sixty,  they  tell 
me." — "Have  you  a  husband?"  —  "I  do  not  know,  mistress."  — 
""Have  you  ever  bad  a  husband?"  —  "Yes,  I  was  married."  — 
"  Where  is  your  husband?"  —  "I  do  not  know;  he  was  sold."  — 
"Have  you  children?"  —  "I  do  not  know:  I  had  children,  but 
they  were  sold."  —  "How  many?"  —  "Six."  —  "Have  you  never 
heard  from  any  of  them  since  they  were  sold?"  —  "No,  mistress." 

—  "Do  you  not  find  it  hard  to  bear  up  under  such  afflictions  as 
these?"  —  "Why  yes,  mistress;  but  God  does  what  he  thinks  it 
best  with  us."  Mothers  !  you  who  sit  before  me  so  happy  in  the 
innocence  and  joy  of  your  children,  was  not  that  slave-mother  a 
woman  and  your  sister? 

Heretofore  they  told  us  that  we  had  nothing  to  do  with  slavery  ; 


272  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

that  it  was  no  concern  of  ours.  But  now  the  slaveholder  has- 
brought  it  home  to  us.  It  is  our  concern  now,  God  be  praised ! 
It  is  a  national  concern.  The  annexation  of  Texas  to  enlarge  and 
fortify  the  slave-trade,  is  forsooth  "  a  great  democratic  measure. ir 
Out  upon  such  democracy !  I  have  seen  the  time  when  I  feared 
the  effect  of  loud  pretensions  to  democracy  in  a  community  ac 
customed  to  regard  it  as  a  watchword.  But  I  now  scorn  them 
all.  Democracy  is  brought  to  a  test  that  no  mock  pretensions 
can  abide.  True  democracy  is  equality  and  liberty.  The  democ- 
racy of  the  Texas  party  is  aristocracy  for  the  white  race,  and 
bondage  for  the  black.  Slavery  is  now  on  trial  before  the  peo- 
ple, and  must  go  down,  and  with  it  every  power  that  interposes 
to  protect  or  uphold  the  institution  accursed  of  God  and  man. 

What  apologies  are  suffered  for  so  great  a  wrong  as  this  that 
we  are  invited  to  commit  against  our  country  and  our  race  ?  Whyr 
it  is  said  that  we  once  owned  Texas.  Grant  it  true  :  did  we  not 
sell  it,  or  give  it  away  ?  But  suppose  we  had  a  right  to  demand 
it  back  again :  who  would  have  it  with  slavery  polluting  its  soil,, 
and  blackening  all  that  approaches  it  ? 

But  a  voice  from  the  Hermitage  tells  us  that  we  need  Texas 
for  defence  of  the  south.  If  we  are  in  danger,  whence  does  this 
danger  come  ?  From  our  too-extended  frontier  ?  Shall  we  gain 
security  by  adding  eighteen  hundred  miles  to  our  imperfectly- 
defended  borders  ?  But  how  is  the  south  exposed  ?  Exposed  to 
invasion  from  Great  Britain.  Is  the  south  any  more  exposed 
than  we  are  ?  Here  we  are  on  the  very  borders  of  one  of  the 
great  continental  colonies  of  England,  with  her  standing  armies,, 
and  yet  who's  afraid?  Nobody.  Why  not?  Because  we  are 
all  free.  Why  is  the  south  afraid  ?  Because  she  holds  two  and 
a  half  millions  of  her  people  in  slavery.  Let  her  break  their 
shackles,  and  she  will  be  as  strong  and  may  be  as  bold  as  we  are. 

But  we  must  needs  annex  Texas  to  extend  the  sway  of  demo- 
cratic institutions  !  And  has  not  Texas  institutions  as  democratic 
as  she  would  have  when  annexed?  But  she  can  not  uphold  them 
against  Mexico !  Well,  let  her  make  her  institutions  as  demo- 
cratic as  ours  are,  restore  her  hardy  laborers  to  freedom,  and  put 
the  ballot  into  their  hands  as  we  enjoy  it,  and  then  we  will  treat 
with  her  as  a  republican  state  :  but  not  before. 

Again,  we  are  told  that  our  democratic  confederative  principle 
is  adapted  to  extend  our  jurisdiction  indefinitely,  and  that  we 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  273 

shall  carry  out  its  design  by  embracing  other  democratic  states. 
Strange  that  the  founders  of  the  constitution,  who  saw  everything 
favorable  to  human  liberty,  did  not  anticipate  and  provide  for 
such  enlargement  of  our  empire !  Do  you  know  the  capacity  of 
our  present  territory  ?  It  is  broad  enough  to  support  two  hun- 
dred millions,  a  number  equal  to  one  fourth  of  the  present  popu- 
lation of  the  globe !  Has  it  ever  occurred  to  the  advocates  of  Texas 
that  this  may  be  possibly  as  large  a  family  as  can  be  gathered 
and  comfortably  lodged  under  one  national  roof?  But  I  will  not 
stand  on  this  objection ;  I  will  consent  that  our  eagle  be  sent 
abroad  to  gather  in  the  nations  on  the  American  continent.  Only 
let  not  the  eyes  of  our  noble  bird  be  hoodwinked,  and  his  legs 
encumbered  with  chains  and  manacles.  Let  him  go  forth  like 
the  Roman  eagle,  the  true  bird  of  Jove,  a  harbinger  of  freedom 
and  civilization. 

But  if  we  want  more  territory,  what  say  the  Texas  party  to 
going  northward  ?  We  already  enjoy  a  monopoly  of  the  great 
river  of  the  west  and  of  its  commerce.  What  say  they  now  to 
the  proposition  of  securing  Canada,  and  making  the  St.  Lawrence 
our  own  ?  Its  banks  are  destined  to  be  the  seat  of  a  great  and 
free  empire.  No  slave  ever  breathed  or  can  breathe  in  that  high 
and  glorious  temperate  latitude.  Ay  !  but  Canada  would  involve 
us  in  war.  Well,  we  are  prepared  for  that,  if  we  are  prepared 
to  annex  Texas.  But  suppose  that  difficulty  removed,  what  then  ?' 
Why,  Canada  will  cost  too  much.  Well,  then,  let  us  buy  apart. 
We  have  twenty-five  millions  in  hand  to  buy  Texas.  What  say 
you,  gentlemen  of  the  Texas  party,  to  buying  twenty-five  millions' 
worth  of  Canada  now,  and  making  new  contracts  for  more  as  we 
become  able?  No!  no!  you  don't  want  Canada  at  all.  How 
absurd,  then,  is  the  pretence  that  you  want  Texas,  or  want  indeed 
any  more  territory ! 

And  now  how  stand  the  parties  on  this  great  question  of  peace 
and  war — of  the  constitution  as  it  is,  or  of  the  constitution  sub- 
verted—  of  unioi  or  of  disunion  ?  The  one  party  pronounce  the 
treaty  a  great  national  measure ;  the  other  denounce  it  now 
henceforth,  and  for  ever,  while  slavery  defiles  the  beautiful  ter- 
ritory that  solicits  their  acceptance. 

Shall  I  be  told  that  Henry  Clay's  position  is  not  as  strong  as 
this?  Be  it  so.  I  regret  it.  I  would  that  Henry  Clay  were  in 
the  vanguard  of  emancipation.     I  should  honor  him  ten  thousand 

Yol.  HI.— 18 


274  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

times  more  than  I  can  now.  But  Henry  Clay's  election  is  the 
only  alternative  so  far  as  the  presidency  is  concerned  ;  and  he  is 
only  the  leading  personal  object  in  the  foreground  of  the  scene 
we  have  been  contemplating.  Let  him  come  into  the  presidency 
under  such  pledges  as  will  prevent  Texas  from  coming  into  the 
Union  while  he  is  there.  We  will  look  out  for  the  future.  Pres- 
ent safety  being  thus  secured,  we  will  take  care  that  Texas  do 
not  come  in  afterward,  or  ever,  until  sh  cast  off  the  black  robe 
that  hangs  around  her,  and  thus  renders  herself  worthy  of  adop- 
tion by  the  American  sisterhood. 

Fellow-citizens,  the  time  for  mass  meetings  has  passed  away. 
This  is  the  last  occasion  on  which  I  shall  address  any  portion  of 
the  people  in  regard  to  the  approaching  election.  I  desire  to  say 
that,  as  I  have  spoken  here,  I  have  everywhere  spoken  —  not  as 
a  mere  apologist  of  the  whig  party,  or  of  its  leaders,  but  as  an 
advocate  of  the  interests  and  honor  of  my  country,  paramount  to 
the  interests  of  all  partisans  and  of  all  parties.  I  do  not  claim 
that  I  have  been  the  organ  of  any  party.  I  have  spoken  my  own 
sentiments  ;  and,  as  you  have  loudly  testified,  I  speak  yours.  Let 
others  hereafter  do  what  they  may.  I  shall  stand  on  the  same 
ground  I  now  occupy,  always  demanding  the  abolition  of  slavery 
in  America  by  political  argument  and  suffrage,  and  by  the  con- 
stitutional action  of  all  the  public  authorities.  I  trust  in  the  in- 
stincts of  the  whig  party,  that  it  will  prove  faithful  to  that  cause ; 
and  when  it  shall  prove  false  in  any  hour  of  trial,  it  will  be  time 
enough  to  look  elsewhere  for  more  effective  agency. 


ST.  PATRICK'S  DINNER. 


SPEECH    AT    ST.    PATRICK'S    DINNER 

ALBANY,   MARCH  17,    1846. 

It  is  manifest,  Mr.  President,  that  I  shall  be  allowed  to  be  silent 
no  longer.  In  the  toast  which  has  just  been  read  I  must  say  you 
have  exercised  your  national  privileges  to  flatter  and  to  mistake. 
There  are  two  or  three  errors  in  as  many  compliments. 

First.  You  assert  that  I  am  not  the  most  fortunate  son  of  New 
York.  Why,  gentlemen,  1  am  fortunate  in  my  misfortunes. 
The  frost  and  the  ice,  the  floods  and  the  tempest,  perverse  men 
and  good,  friends  and  adversaries,  have  been  combined  against 
me,  ever  since  my  arrival  in  this  city,  and  have  detained  me  so 
long,  that  I  am  able,  for  the  first  time  in  four  years,  to  meet  my 
too  generous  friends,  the  Irishmen  of  Albany,  at  that  board 
whose  pleasures  once  tasted,  can  never  be  forgotten. 

Again,  sir,  is  not  your  illustrious  guest  at  your  right  hand, 
[Governor  Wright,]  the  most  fortunate  citizen  in  the  state — for- 
tunate in  the  favor  of  the  people  ?  Yes,  indeed.  But  the  most 
fortunate  event  in  the  life  of  a  governor  of  New  York  is  his  re- 
tirement. Is  it  not  so,  sir  ?  I  appeal  then,  to  my  distinguished 
friend  if  he  will  pardon  the  freedom,  whether  I  am  not  more  for- 
tunate than  himself,  in  having  earlier  passed  through  the  storms 
with  which  he  is  buffeting,  and  in  having  found  a  calm  and  se- 
cure harbor?  [Governor  Wright  smiling,  bowed  assent.]  Then, 
sir,  if  I  am  more  fortunate  than  you,  I  am  the  most  fortunate  son 
of  New  York. 

The  toast  also  asserts  that  I  am  honest.  Now  I  will  not  directly 
contradict  this  sentiment.  But  you  must  allow  me  to  say,  that 
the  time  has  been  when  my  integrity  was  questioned  more  than 
my  good  fortune  even  by  Irishmen. 

But,  gentlemen,  I  am  honest  always,  at  least  in  the  pleasure 
and  sympathy  with  which  I  greet  you  on  the  return  of  this  fes- 
tival. The  day  is  consecrated  to  St.  Patrick.  And  why  should 
not  St.  Patrick  be  honored  ?    True,  we  are  not  enlightened  as  to 


276  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

any  peculiarities  of  his  creed  ;  but  if  it  be  tested  by  his  works  it 
must  have  been  a  sound  one.  He  was  a  stranger  to  Ireland, 
France  and  Scotland  contend  for  the  honor  of  his  birth.  He 
found  the  people  of  the  green  isle  heathens  and  barbarians,  and 
he  bronght  them  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God.  He  en- 
grafted them  a  vigorous  exotic,  upon  the  true  olive-tree  planted 
by  his  master. 

But  the  day  is  more  a  secular,  than  an  ecclesiastical  festival- 
St.  Patrick's  day  is  the  holiday  of  Ireland,  and  St.  Patrick  is  by 
common  consent  a  personification  of  the  virtues  of  the  Irish  char- 
acter. Ireland  claims  the  homage  and  the  sympathy  of  mankind,, 
especially  of  freemen. 

Germs  of  liberty  appeared  earlier  in  that  island,  and  more  fre- 
quent, and  grew  more  luxuriantly  than  in  almost  any  other  re- 
gion, and  yet  they  have  always  been  more  signally  blasted.  The 
states  of  Italy,  Switzerland,  France,  Holland,  England,  and  many 
German  countries,  have  largely  enjoyed  the  blessings  of  civil 
liberty,  and  sometimes  of  religious  freedom.  But  Ireland  for 
six  hundred  years  has  known  neither  national  independence  nor 
liberty,  and  yet  Ireland  was  precocious  in  manifesting  the  impulse 
and  spirit  of  freedom.  When  the  island  was  divided  into  its  five 
ancient  states,  Leinster,  Munster,  Ulster,  Connaught,  and  Meath, 
these  kingdoms  like  the  members  of  our  republic,  were  bound 
together  by  a  federal  union,  not  subjected  to  an  imperial  throne* 
At  that  early  day  the  feudal  principle  of  primogeniture  was  sin- 
gularly modified  in  Ireland,  not  only  in  regard  to  the  crown,  but 
even  in  regard  to  honors,  titles,  and  estates.  The  heir  did  not 
succeed  unless  he  added  superior  merit  to  priority  of  birth.  In 
this  law,  Mr.  President,  you  readily  recognise  the  Tanistry  of 
your  native  land. 

You  recollect,  also,  that  in  Ireland,  as  well  as  elsewhere,  the 
population  was  divided  into  tribes  or  septs.  It  was  an  institution 
peculiar  to  Ireland,  which  required  an  equal  division  of  the 
wealth  of  the  sept  on  the  death  of  its  chief.  This  principle  of 
Gavelkind  strongly  resembled  the  jubilee  of  the  Hebrews.  The 
people  of  Ireland  were  distinguished  for  religion  as  early  as  for 
the  love  of  liberty.  This  we  are  assured  by  no  partial  historian. 
In  the  twelfth  century,  when  they  had  no  arts,  no  commerce, 
no  defences,  they  were  gay,  generous,  ardent,  credulous,  vivacious, 
enthusiastic,   and   exhibited  more   than   ordinary   bias  toward 


ST.  PATRICK'S  DINNER.  277 

a-eligion.  Such  were  the  people  who  possessed  Ireland  when  it 
was  invaded  by  Henry  II.  Such  a  people  he  expelled  from 
their  native  homes,  and  he  parcelled  out  the  whole  country 
.among  his  followers,,  Never  among  Christians  has  it  been  known 
elsewhere,  that  to  be  a  native  of  a  country  was  to  live  in  per- 
petual alienage  and  outlawry.  The  Celtic  inhabitants  of  Ireland 
were  always  described  in  the  laws  of  Great  Britain  as  the  Irish 
enemy.  Here  is  the  record  of  a  court  held  at  Waterford,  in  1311 : 
"  Quod  Robertus  le  Wayleys  sectatus  de  morte  Johannis  filii 
Ivor  Mac-Gillemony,  felonici  per  ipsum  interfecti,  etc.  Yenit 
•et  bene  cognovit  quod  praedictum  Johannem  interfecit;  dicit 
tamen  quod  per  ejus  interfectionem  feloniam  committeri  non 
potuit;  quia  dicit  quod  praedictus  Johannes  fuit  purus  Hiber- 
nicus,  et  non  de  libero  sanguine,  etc.  Et  cum  dominus  dicti 
•Johannis,  cujus  Hibernicus  idem  Johannis  fuit,  die  quo  inter- 
fectus  fuit,  solutionem  pro  ipsus  Johanne  Hibernico  suo  sic 
interfecto  petere  voluerit,  ipse  Robertus  paratus  erit  ad  respon- 
-dendam  de  solutione  prsedicta  prout  justitia  suadebit.  Et  super 
hoc  venit  quidam  Johannes  le  Poer,  et  dicit  pro  domino  rege, 
•quod  predictus  Johannes  Alius  Ivon  Mac-Gillemony,  et  anteces- 
•seores  sui  de  cognomine  prsedictus  a  tempore  quo  dominus  Hen- 
ricus  filius  imperatricis,  quondam  dominus  Hibernise,  tritavus 
Domini  regis  nunc,  fuit  in  Hibernise,  legem  Anglicanam  in 
Hibernia  usque  ad  hunc  diem  habere,  et  secundum  ipsam  legem 
judicari  et  deduci  debent."  The  plain  English  of  this  atrocious 
record  is,  that  it  was  not  murder  but  excusable  homicide,  to  slay 
an  Irishman,  unless  he  had  renounced  his  country  and  become 
An  Englishman. 

The  liberty  which  mankind  are  enjoying  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  is  a  tree  planted,  watered,  and  cherished  in  the  legisla- 
tive assemblies  of  western  Europe  during  the  fifteenth,  seven- 
teenth, and  eighteenth  centuries.  Ireland  had  a  parliament  at  g 
period  as  early  as  parliaments  were  known  in  England,  a  cortes 
in  Spain,  or  diet  in  Germany.  And  the  Irish  parliaments  might 
have  worked  out  the  liberties  of  Ireland,  although  no  native-born 
-subject,  and  no  Roman  Catholic,  was  allowed  a  seat  there. 
Henry  VII.  perceived  this  danger,  and,  therefore,  obtained  the 
passage  of  the  memorable  statute  called  Paynim?s  law.  This 
constitution  declared  that  "in  future  no  parliament  shall  be 
h olden  in  Ireland  till  the  king's  lieutenant  shall  certify  to  the 


278  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

king,  under  the  great  seal,  causes  and  considerations,  and  all  such 
acts  as  it  seems  to  him  ought  to  be  passed  therein,  and  such  be 
affirmed  by  the  king,  and  his  license  to  hold  a  parliament  be 
obtained."  What  wonder  is  it  that,  after  this  statute  the  national 
religion  was  subverted  by  the  sword,  and  a  new  one  established 
by  force,  and  maintained  by  pillage  and  exaction,  and  that  civil 
wars  desolated  the  island?  At  the  very  moment  that  Lord  Bacon 
was  prophesying  the  immediate  exaltation  of  the  British  empire, 
and  the  decline  of  the  kingdom  of  Castile,  Leon,  and  the  Indies,, 
Ireland  was  thus  described  by  Hollingshed :  "  The  land  itself 
which  before  then  was  populous,  well  inhabited,  and  rich  in  all 
the  good  blessings  of  God,  being  plenteous  of  corn,  full  of  cattle, 
well-stored  with  fruit  and  many  other  good  commodities,  has  now 
become  waste,  and  barren,  yielding  no  fruits,  the  pastures  no 
cattle,  the  fields  no  corn,  the  air  no  birds,  the  seas — though  full 
offish,  yet  yielding  nothing  ;  every  way  the  curse  of  God  was  so 
great,  and  the  land  so  barren,  both  of  man  and  beast,  that  in  a 
distance  of  six  score  miles  the  traveller  would  meet  no  man, 
woman,  or  child,  save  in  towns  and  cities ;  nor  yet  see  any 
beasts,  but  the  very  wolves  and  foxes."  Queen  Elizabeth  was 
assured  that,  "  Sir  Arthur  Gray,  the  lord-lieutenant,  had  left  little 
to  reign  over  but  ashes  and  carcasses." 

Coming  down  to  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  England 
is  seen  with  a  constitutional  monarchy,  founded  on  principles  of 
republican  freedom,  with  colonies  in  Virginia,  Massachusetts, 
and  Maryland,  flourishing  under  governments  almost  purely 
democratic.  What  was  then  the  condition  of  Ireland  ?  The  Irish 
people  possessed  not  more  than  a  sixth,  or  a  seventh  of  their 
native  land.  Humanity  blushes  at  the  code  which  had  been 
established  by  William  (one  named  "  of  immortal  memory")  and 
Anne;  a  code  which  interdicted  religious  faith  on  condition  of 
absolute  disfranchisement,  civil,  military,  ecclesiastical,  social, 
and  domestic,  which  made  education  an  evil,  and  Christian  in- 
struction a  crime.  It  is  true  that  during  the  present  century* 
this  code  has  been  somewhat  modified,  but  the  recent  wrongs  of 
Ireland  exceed  all  the  meliorations  of  her  condition.  Until  the 
year  1800,  Ireland  had  a  legislature.  It  was  composed,  indeed,. 
of  aliens,  strangers,  and  agents  of  British  oppression,  but  it  was,, 
nevertheless,  a  parliament,  and  it  sat  in  Dublin.  It  was  a  shadow 
oi  a  constitutional  legislature,  and  under  the  appeals  of  a  Grattan- 


ST.  PATRICK'S  DINNER.  27° 

and  a  Flood,  it  sometimes  gave  faint  evidence  of  national  vitality. 
England,  which  had  now  become  virtually  a  republic,  grew 
fearful  and  weary  of  the  poor  mockery  of  liberty  in  the  sister- 
island,  and  subverted  the  Irish  parliament  by  bribery  and  cor- 
ruption. She  gave,  indeed,  a  representation  in  the  imperial  par- 
liament as  an  equivalent.  But  what  representation  ?  One  hun- 
dred and  thirty-seven  members  for  eight  millions,  while  England 
and  Scotland  had  one  thousand  and  sixty-one  for  sixteen  millions. 
Britain  had  three  hundred  and  eighty-eight  barons  in  the  senate, 
while  Ireland  had  only  twenty-seven.  What  is  the  trade  of 
Ireland  ?  She  has  none.  Her  ports  are  in  England.  Her  mer- 
chants are  there.  Her  capital  is  there.  Even  now,  when  the 
country  is  visited  by  a  famine,  not  a  cargo  of  wheat  from  the 
Baltic,  nor  of  maize  from  America,  can  reach  that  unhappy 
country,  except  it  be  unloaded  on  the  docks  of  England,  and  pay 
its  tribute  there.  What  is  the  agriculture  of  Ireland?  Witli  a 
soil  of  unequal  fertility,  and  a  climate  peculiarly  salubrious,  she 
has  laborers,  but  her  landlords  are  in  England,  or  in  Italy. 
What  is  her  political  power?  Compeer  of  England  in  all  her 
battles,  she  is  always  chained  to  the  car  of  victory,  as  the  chief 
captive  in  all  the  triumphs  of  the  conqueror. 

I  plead  guilty,  then,  to  the  charge  of  being  a  repealer.  I  ask 
for  Ireland  a  parliament,  a  free  parliament — a  parliament  which 
shall  be  her  own  parliament.  I  ask  for  her  people  free  and  equal 
suffrage  in  the  choice  of  representatives  in  that  parliament.  I 
may  be  told  that  Irishmen  are  incompetent  to  govern  themselves. 
Let  them  try.  It  is  certain  they  could  not  govern  themselves 
worse  than  England  governs  them. 

We  can  do  little  here  to  promote  this  great  object,  but  our 
example  is  potential.  Let  us  carry  out  the  principles  of  equal  le- 
gislation, and  of  universal  suffrage.  Let  us  thus  prove  the  dignity 
and  beneficence  of  our  mission  among  the  nations  of  the  earth. 
But  I  am  asked,  would  you  give  the  ballot  to  every  man,  learned 
or  unlearned,  bond  or  free  ?  Yes !  I  do  not  find  this  principle 
asserted  in  Magna  Charta,  or  in  any  bill  of  rights  adopted  by  the 
commons  of  England,  or  even  in  the  Declaration  of  American 
Independence,  but  I  do  find  in  all  the  bills  of  rights  that  the 
people  have  a  natural  right  to  retain  arms,  to  protect  themselves 
when  the  government  betrays  its  trust.  But  muskets  are  becom- 
ng  obsolete.     The  ballot  is  a  better  weapon.     Let  the  subject,  or 


280  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

the  citizen  everywhere  have  that.  Some  of  our  friends  here 
imply  that  they  advocate  universal  suffrage,  upon  condition  of 
universal  education.  I  would,  indeed,  prefer  that  the  school- 
master should  precede  the  ballot-box,  but  the  experience  of  six 
thousand  years  has  proved  that,  the  ballot-box  never  comes  if  we 
wait  for  the  education  which  is  supposed  necessary  for  its  safety. 
On  the  other  hand,  universal  education  is  sure  to  follow  universal 
suffrage. 

I  give  you,  then,  gentlemen,  in  concluding  these  desultory 
remarks :  Suffrage  and  education  together.  But  suffrage  at  all 
events 


EULOGY  ON  JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS.  281 


V-        OF   THE  °' 


EULOGY   ON   JOHN   QUINCY   ADAMS. 

ALBANY,   FEBRUARY   25,    1848. 

May  it  please  your  Honor: 

The  capitol  is  deserted !  The  legislature  have  suspended  their 
labors ;  the  city  is  in  mourning  ;  a  sudden  blow  has  fallen  on  the 
master-chord  in  the  heart  of  this  nation,  and  grief  is  diffusing  it- 
self throughout  the  Union.  The  voice  of  John  Quincy  Adams 
has  died  away  on  earth,  and  he  has  resumed  converse  with  John 
Adams  and  Jefferson,  with  La  Fayette  and  with  Washington,  in 
heaven. 

Death  found  the  statesman  where  he  wished  to  meet  it — in  the 
capitol ;  in  his  place  ;  in  the  performance  of  his  duty  ;  in  defend- 
ing the  cause  of  peace  and  of  freedom.  He  submitted  to  the  in- 
evitable blow  as  those  who  loved  and  honored  him  foretold  and 
desired  that  he  would  —  saying  only,  "This  is  the  last  of  earth  — 
I  am  content." 

I  will  not  suffer  myself  to  speak  all  I  feel  on  this  sad  occasion. 
While  the  American  people  have  lost  a  father  and  a  guide  — 
while  Humanity  has  lost  her  most  eloquent,  persevering,  and  in- 
domitable advocate  —  I  have  lost  a  patron,  a  guide,  a  counsellor, 
and  a  friend  —  one  whom  I  loved  scarcely  less  than  the  dearest 
relations,  and  venerated  above  all  that  was  mortal  among  men. 

I  speak  in  behalf  of  my  associates.  Great  as  he  was,  illustri- 
ous as  his  achievements  were,  he  was  one  of  us.  He  was  a  civil- 
ian, a  lawyer,  a  jurist.  His  great  mind  was  imbued  with  the 
science  of  our  noble  profession,  and  enriched  with  all  congenial 
learning ;  and  to  these  he  added  the  ornaments  of  rhetoric  and 
eloquence.  Trained  in  constitutional  law,  in  the  school  of  its  found- 
ers, Washington  called  him  in  precocious  youth  to  the  kindred 
field  of  diplomacy.     That  mission  discharged,  he  returned  to  his 

Note. — Soon  after  the  court  or  chancery  organized,  Mr.  Seward  rose  and  addressed 
ae  chancellor  as  abov* — Ed 


282  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

profession,  and  devoted  himself  to  it  with  assiduity  until  the  peo- 
ple called  him  from  the  duty  of  expounding  laws  to  the  higher 
department  of  making  laws. 

Rising  through  various  and  very  responsible  departments  of 
public  service,  he  became  chief  magistrate  of  the  republic.  There 
ne  impressed  on  its  history  an  enduring  illustration  of  a  wise, 
peaceful,  and  enlightened  administration,  devoted  to  the  cultiva- 
tion of  peace,  to  its  arts  and  its  interests,  and  to  extending  the 
sway  of  republican  institutions  over  the  continent,  and  yet  in  all 
things  subordinate  to  the  law  and  regulated  by  the  law. 

When  he  had  thus  filled  the  measure  of  the  world's  expecta- 
tion and  of  his  own  generous  ambition,  he  resumed  his  place  in 
the  national  legislature,  and  devoted  what  remained  of  life  to  a 
long,  arduous,  and  finally -successful  vindication  of  th«  constitu- 
tional liberty  of  speech,  and  of  the  universal  inalienable  right 
of  petition.  Nor  can  we  forget  that,  while  thus  engaged,  he  set 
a  noble  example  for  us,  by  returning  again  to  the  field  of  his 
early  labors,  the  unpaid,  unrivalled  advocate  of  the  Amistad  cap- 
tives. Those  unhappy  fugitives,  rescued  by  him  from  the  op- 
pression of  two  great  nations,  were  restored  to  Africa,  the  first 
of  the  many  millions  of  her  people  of  whom  she  had  been  de- 
spoiled by  the  avarice  of  our  superior  race.  Whatever  difference 
of  opinion  there  may  be  concerning  the  principles  and  policy  of 
the  deceased,  all  men  will  now  agree  that  lie  won  among  American 
statesmen,  and  eminently  more  than  any  other,  the  fame  accorded 
to  the  most  illustrious  chevalier  of  France  —  the  fame  of  a  states- 
man—  sans  peur  et  sans  reproche. 

It  is  fit  that  the  death  of  such  a  citizen  should  be  marked  with 
all  the  testimonials  of  public  grief,  in  order  that  his  life  may  have 
its  just  influence  on  mankind.  It  is  fit  that  it  should  be  honored 
in  this  tribunal,  the  fame  of  which  is  not  unknown  throughout 
the  world,  and  the  records  of  which  will  remain  for  ever.  In  be- 
half of  the  members  of  the  bar,  therefore,  I  move  that  such  an 
expression  be  entered  on  the  record,  and  that  the  court  do  then 
adjourn. 


HORTICULTURAL  FESTIVAL.  283 


HORTICULTUKAL    FESTIVAL. 

BOSTON,   SEPTEMBER  22,    1848. 

Mr.  President: 

There  has  been  a  felicity  in  my  life  which  assigned  to  me  the 
duty  of  personating  New  York  at  every  renewal  of  her  fraterni- 
zation with  Massachusetts.  I  joined  hands  with  her  chief  ma- 
gistrate in  the  valley  of  the  Connecticut,  when  we  riveted  the 
iron  bands  that  bind  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  to  the  shores  of 
the  Massachusetts  bay.  I  brought  in  my  hands  the  cypress 
wreath  which  New  York  sent  to  grace  the  tomb  of  the  statesman 
of  Massachusetts  who  sleeps  beside  his  honored  sire  at  Quincy, 
There  may  have  been  a  fitness  in  my  part  on  these  occasions  but 
I  feel  that  there  is  none  now. 

When  I  look  around  me  and  see  a  Downing  from  the  shores 
of  the  Hudson  and  a  Prince  come  down  from  his  throne  upon 
the  sound,  I  feel  that  New  York  might  better  speak  through 
their  voices  on  this  occasion  than  with  mine.  I  am  a  truant  to 
agriculture ;  a  truant  to  the  labor ;  I  regret  to  say  a  truant  to  the 
enjoyments,  of  the  garden.  Still,  Mr.  President,  I  believe  that 
under  more  favorable  circumstances,  I  would  not  be  a  sluggish 
pupil ;  for  I  remember  once  ascertaining  by  experience  the  true 
philosophy  of  agriculture  and  with  great  deference  to  you,  sir, 
and  with  great  admiration  for  the  excellent  speech  which  you 
have  delivered  to-night,  you  will  permit  me  to  say  that  I  do  not 
discover  the  whole  of  that  philosophy  in  that  essay. 

It  happened  that  once  in  the  month  of  May,  I  had  leisure  from 
other  pursuits,  and  I  undertook  to  improve  it  by  setting  out  trees,, 
and  embellishing  my  grounds.  I  bought  a  large  quantity  of 
plants  and  trees  from  Prince's  garden,  but  lo !  the  trees  were  in 

Note. — Remarks  at  the  third  triennial  festival  of  the  Massachusetts  Horticultural 
Society  at  Faneuil  hall,  September  22,  1848.  The  president  stated  that  they  were 
honored  by  the  presence  of  Governor  Seward  from  the  state  of  New  York,  and  pro- 
posed a  sentiment:  "The  Empire  State:  Favored  by  nature,  but  more  favored  by  thft 
energy,  intelligence,  and  enterprise  of  her  citizens,"  to  which  Governor  Seward  re- 
sponded.— Ed. 


284  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

blossom  before  the  excavations  were  dug  in  which  they  were  to 
be  set !  My  neighbors  thought  I  was  a  strange  man  to  set  out 
trees  in  May.  "Why  didn't  you  set  these  trees  last  fall ?"  said 
they.  Still  I  kept  on  digging,  and  digging  with  faith.  At  last 
a  very  aged  and  venerable  man,  who  has  an  excellent  garden, 
displaying  great  taste,  came  along,  and  stood  and  looked  upon 
me  as  I  set  out  the  trees,  and  watered  them,  and  braced  them  up 
for  their  struggle  with  the  summer  winds,  "Well,"  said  he, 
"  there  is  fun  setting  out  trees  even  if  they  won't  live  /" 

Now  I  take  it  that  the  true  philosophy  of  horticulture  is,  that 
there  is  a  pleasure  in  the  innocent  pursuits  of  the  care  and  cul- 
ture of  the  earth,  which  is  increased  just  in  proportion  as  taste 
and  refinement  preside  over  labors  instead  of  bare  utility. 

But  Mr.  President,  what  was  said  in  honor  of  the  state  of  New 
York?  I  should  deem  myself  unfortunate  if  a  compliment  to 
that  state,  which  is  my  native  state,  my  native  country,  should 
find  me  obliged  as  a  matter  of  compliment,  or  as  a  matter  of  in- 
terest, to  affect  a  respect  for  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  which 
was  foreign  to  my  heart  and  foreign  to  my  lips.  It  is  true  of 
the  state  of  New  York  that  she  is  distinguished  for  extent  of  ter- 
ritory, for  greatness  of  resources,  and  for  a  vast  population,  but 
it  is  also  true  that  she  is  a  state  founded,  not  by  one  homogeneous 
people,  but  that  on  the  contrary  she  was  a  colony  planted  by  the 
various  nations  of  Europe  ;  and  that  it  is  not  her  province,  it  is 
not  in  all  her  past  history,  to  originate  great  enterprises  in  gov- 
ernment, in  literature,  or  in  science,  but  that  she  follows,  and 
follows  kindly,  and  faithfully,  and  vigorously,  those  states  which 
were  planned  by  the  pilgrims  of  New  England. 

And  Massachusetts,  I  confess  it  here,  I  confess  it  on  behalf  of 
my  own  state  as  well  as  of  Massachusetts,  the  state  of  Massachu- 
setts has  been  the  pioneer  in  all.  She  was  the  pioneer  in  agri- 
culture. We  saw  the  granite  soften  and  the  soil  grow  green 
under  the  feet  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  before  agriculture 
became  our  care.  We  are  a  great  commercial  people  ;  we  learned 
our  commerce  from  the  town  of  Boston,  I  think  we  are  not  an 
unpatriotic  people ;  but  we  followed  with  some  reluctance  the 
footsteps  of  those  who  were  gathered  in  this  venerable  hall. 
We  are  not  without  pretensions  to  science  and  literature  ;  but  the 
school-master  who  educated  us  all,  was  sent  from  New  England. 

So  it  is  in  this  last,  and  most  gratifying  demonstration  of  the 


HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETY.  285 

6pirit  of  New  England,  this  demonstration  that  Massachusetts 
has  time  to  turn  aside  from  rugged  labors,  and  may  devote  a  por- 
tion of  the  wealth,  and  of  the  time,  and  of  the  talent  of  its  citi- 
zens, to  the  cultivation  of  the  garden,  and  of  fruit.  Now,  Mr. 
President,  this  is  a  subject  worthy  of  Massachusetts.  She  is  not 
doomed  to  it  by  any  peculiar  sterility  of  her  soil,  for  the  garden 
gives  but  few  spontaneous  fruits  to  man,  while,  on  the  other  hand 
there  is  no  place  on  the  "  footstool"  upon  which  we  are  situated,, 
to  which  we  can  not  bring  exotics  from  every  clime.  There  is  no 
land  that  "  overflows  with  milk  and  honey"  perpetually.  France 
now  the  land  of  the  vine  and  the  olive,  the  land  of  fruits  and  flow- 
ers—  France,  as  we  all  recollect,  borrowed  her  choicest  grapes 
from  Cyprus,  and  the  mulberry  is  an  exotic  within  her  borders. 

It  is  therefore  for  Massachusetts  to  lead  in  the  career  of  refine- 
ment of  horticulture,  which  she  has  so  nobly  commenced.  You 
have  already  adverted  to  the  influence  which  so  noble  a  career 
must  exercise  upon  the  welfare  of  her  own  people  and  it  is  only 
to  consider  that  reflected,  to  know  what  must  be  its  influences 
upon  the  whole  American  people. 

I  will  advert  to  but  one  topic  further.  When  I  look  around 
me  upon  this  great  and  brilliant  presence,  it  seems  to  revive  the 
spirit  of  the  middle  ages,  when  woman  was  exalted  to  be  almost 
the  first  in  earth  and  first  in  heaven,  when  woman  presided  in 
the  distribution  of  the  wreaths  which  were  given  in  honor  of  tri- 
umphs in  every  department  of  literature  and  poetry,  and  was 
elevated  to  preside  over  angels,  and  just  men  made  perfect  in  the 
heavenly  kingdom.  Such  a  scene  as  this  —  how  does  it  not  contrast 
with  the  scenes  which  were  presented  in  this  land  only  one  year 
ago,  when  the  nation  was  rushing  madly  into  a  war  for  foreign 
conquest,  and  women  were  excluded  from  our  councils,  from  our 
sympathies,  and  almost  from  our  remembrance.  It  is  the  true 
and  only  way  to  preserve  these  institutions,  to  bring  woman  up 
to  her  proper  influence  in  society.  It  is  only  by  indulging  in 
such  enterprises  as  may  appeal  to  her  for  a  blessing,  tnat  we  can 
expect  to  continue  a  great,  a  happy,  a  prosperous,  and  a  peace- 
ful people. 


286  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


WHIG  MASS   MEETING. 

BOSTON,    OCTOBER    15,    1848. 

Fellow-Citizens  : 

In  the  hour  of  darkness  which  hung  over  the  Eoman  republic 
when  Julius  Caesar,  with  his  legions,  flushed  with  the  conquest 
of  Germany,  was  on  his  march  to  subjugate  the  liberties  of  Home, 
and  when  Pompey,  upon  whom  all  hopes  were  centred  to  take 
command  of  the  army,  had  withdrawn  and  taken  position  in  Af- 
rica— at  that  moment,  when  the  people  of  Rome  were  divided 
and  distracted,  and  while  some  were  persuading  to  submit  to 
Caesar,  and  others  offered  other  leaders  under  wrhom  the  republic 
might  find  safety  —  Cicero  expressed  himself  in  these  words:  "I 
can  easily  know  whom  I  ought  to  avoid,  but  not  whom  I  ought 
to  follow." 

Such  is  the  nature  of  the  question  which  the  whigs  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  are  now  called  upon  to  decide.  With  an  administra- 
tion which  has  put  forth  a  candidate  who  is  in  favor  of  war  foi 
conquest,  and  with  others  seeking  to  distract  and  divide  the  peo- 
ple, the  Philadelphia  convention  has  put  forth  the  names  of 
Zachary  Taylor  and  Millard  Fillmore,  and  invited  us  to  follow 
them. 

We  whigs  in  Boston,  in  New  York,  everywhere,  know  whom 
we  ought  to  avoid,  but  can  not  so  easily  determine  whom  we 
ought  to  follow.  To  this  question,  'Whom  ought  wre  to  follow?' 
you  have  invited  me  to  address  myself  at  the  present  time ;  and 
I  will  give  you  the  reasons  which  have  led  me  to  determine  whom 
I  ought  to  follow,  and  whom  I  mean  to  follow,  diligently,  ear- 
nestly, and  vigilantly.  The  question,  then,  is  —  'Whom  ought 
the  whigs  to  follow?'  The  people  must  select  a  leader  from 
among  them,  and  who  he  shall  be  must  be  decided  by  the  exer- 

Note. — Remarks  at  a  large  and  spirited  whig  meeting,  held  in  the  Tremont  Temple, 
Boston,  on  Friday  evening,  October  15, 1848,  on  the  subject  of  the  Presidential  Election. 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  287 

cise  of  the  right  of  suffrage.  To  determine  who,  from  the  great 
and  good  men  of  the  land,  shall  be  chosen  the  leader  of  the  whig 
party,  we  must  first  decide  upon  what  measures  we  want,  or  the 
course  of  policy  which  will  be  most  beneficial  to  the  country, 
and  then  select  that  leader  who  will  best  secure  us  our  wishes. 

But  the  whigs  are  not  all  agreed  in  this  matter.  If  they  were 
as  easily  united  as  their  adversaries,  it  would  not  be  difficult  to 
establish  a  creed  which  would  satisfy  all.  But  the  whig  party 
is  composed  of  independent,  thinking  men  and  masses,  and  no 
one  is  willing  passively  to  subscribe  to  the  creed  of  another  in  all 
points.  While,  however,  there  are  some  things  on  which  they 
differ,  in  the  main  they  are  agreed  upon  the  following  general 
principles  :  They  ardently  desire  that  this  republic  may  be  pros- 
perous ;  that  the  well-directed  industry  of  the  country  may  suc- 
ceed ;  that  a  system  of  judicious  internal  improvements  may  be 
pursued,  in  order  to  develop  the  resources  of  our  country.  They 
fervently  desire  that  the  government  may  be  administered  for 
the  security  of  peace.  Being  friends  of  education,  they  wish 
that  the  policy  of  the  government  may  be  so  directed  as  to  de- 
velop the  intellectual  power  of  the  nation.  Another  point  on 
which  they  agree,  and  in  a  certain  degree  the  most  important 
principle  of  all,  is  that  the  extension  of  slavery  over  portions  of 
territory  now  free  will  exert  an  influence  hostile  to  the  welfare 
of  this  nation,  and  tending  to  subvert  American  liberty. 

This  institution  ought  to  receive  the  least  favor  from  our  hands 
consistent  with  the  constitution ;  and  some  whigs  go  further,  and 
say  that  the  laws  in  any  portion  of  our  land  for  the  protection  of 
this  institution  shall  receive  just  that  measure  of  obedience  which 
they  can  compel,  and  no  more.  All  whigs,  then,  if  these  state- 
ments are  not  exaggerated,  are  in  favor  of  internal  improvements, 
of  protection  to  American  industry,  of  the  diffusion  of  knowledge, 
of  peace,  and  of  the  non-extension  of  slavery.  What  they  want 
is,  that  these  principles  shall  be  carried  into  effect  and  become 
the  policy  of  the  government,'  Having  ascertained,  then,  what 
we  want,  it  remains  for  us  to  select  some  leader  who  will  carry 
out  our  wishes.  Two  candidates  have  been  presented,  between 
whom  we  must  decide,  and  one  of  them  will  certainly  be  chosen : 
of  this  there  can  be  no  doubt.  General  Cass  has  been  presented 
as  the  administration  candidate.  Shall  we  adopt  him  ?  We  want 
peace  with  all  the  world,  but  he  is  the  candidate  of  the  adminis- 


288  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES, 

tration  which  has  plunged  us  into  war,  and  has  declared  himself 
in  favor  of  swallowing  the  whole  of  Mexico,  while  the  whigs  are- 
opposed  to  the  occupation  of  any  part  of  her  territory.  War  is 
the  bane  of  republics,  and  wars  of  conquest  will  inevitably  trans- 
form them  into  despotisms.  The  whigs  are  in  favor  of  protection 
to  national  industry,  knowing  that  no  merely  agricultural  nation 
can  be  permanently  prosperous.  We  must  be  also  a  commercial 
people,  and  the  consequences  will  be  most  disastrous  if  our  own 
workshops  are  not  protected.  Shall  Lewis  Cass  be  adopted  as 
our  leader,  who  is  the  candidate  of  the  party  which  has  decided 
that  national  industry  shall  be  discouraged  ?  We  are  in  favor  of 
internal  improvements,  by  means  of  which  the  citizens  of  Boston 
and  New  York  meet  on  the  plains  of  Connecticut,  and  are  made 
brethren.  To  this  system  General  Cass  is  also  opposed,  and  is 
the  chosen  candidate  of  that  administration  which  vetoed  the  bill 
making  appropriations  for  this  object.  On  the  slavery  question, 
to  this  extent  all  whigs  agree,  that  slavery  shall  not  be  extended 
into  any  territory  now  free ;  and  they  are  doubtless  willing  to  go 
one  step  further — that  it  shall  be  abolished  where  it  now  exists 
under  the  immediate  protection  of  the  general  government. 

To  these  principles  the  whigs  are  already  pledged,  and  I  trust 
that  they  may  be  regarded  only  as  incipient  measures,  and  that 
the  time  will  soon  arrive  when  further  demonstrations  will  be 
made  against  the  institution  of  slavery.  I  am  a  believer  in  the 
moral  power  of  the  people,  and  think  that  the  work  of  abolishing 
slavery  will  be  finally  accomplished  by  moral  force,  peacefully, 
and  in  full  accordance  with  public  opinion.  The  whigs  must, 
then,  select  a  candidate  who  will  favor  these  great  principles. 
General  Cass,  as  is  well  known,  was  an  advocate  for  the  admis- 
sion of  Texas  into  the  Union  for  the  purpose  of  extending  and 
strengthening  slavery,  and  gives  in  his  adhesion  to  the  doctrines 
of  the  Baltimore  convention,  that  the  question  of  establishing 
slavery  in  a  new  territory  belongs  to  the  inhabitants,  and  not  to 
the  legislative  department  of  the  general  government.  The  idea 
of  voting  for  such  a  man  must  be  repugnant  to  the  feelings  of 
every  whig. 

On  the  other  side,  we  have  General  Taylor,  nominated  by  the 
whig  convention,  and  he  is  the  leader  whom  for  many  reasons  we 
ought  to  follow :  indeed,  the  whigs  have  no  alternative,  for  there 
are  really  but  two  candidates  in  the  field,  and  these  are  the  can- 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  289 

didates  of  the  two  great  parties  of  the  country.  Indeed,  the  na- 
ture of  our  government  is  such,  that  whatever  local  differences 
may  arise,  there  can  be  but  two  great  parties  in  the  Union.  The 
whigs  can  not  follow  General  Cass,  and  it  might  be  contended 
that  the  election  of  General  Taylor  would  not  secure  the  triumph 
of  the  principles  for  which  the  whigs  contended.  But  it  is  my 
firm  conviction  that  it  will.  The  southern  influence  in  our  na- 
tional councils  and  legislatures  has  ever  sacrificed  the  interest 
of  the  north  to  the  south  ;  and  this  has  its  origin  in,  and  is  one  of 
the  great  principles  of,  the  opposing  party.  One  of  the  great 
parties  which  now  divides  the  Union  is  built  upon  the  sands  of 
South  Carolina,  and  the  other  on  the  rock  of  Plymouth.  The 
southern  democracy  is  opposed  to  internal  improvements,  to  the 
diffusion  of  knowledge,  for  knowledge  makes  men  free  ;  and  they 
offer  all  the  power  and  patronage  of  the  government  to  induce 
northern  men  to  support  their  odious  policy.  It  was  Jefferson 
who  said  that  the  natural  ally  of  slavery  was  the  democracy  of 
the  north.  What,  then,  is  the  duty  of  the  whig  party  of  the 
north  ?  I  should  have  been  glad  if  the  whigs  had  at  all  times 
presented  as  a  candidate  for  president  a  man  who  had  never  kept 
shackles  on  his  fellow-men;  and  I  hope  the  time  will  come,  and 
fKat  not  far  distant,  when  the  citizens  of  the  whole  country,  as 
vvcjjl  as  Massachusetts,  will  select  for  their  leader  a  freeman  of 
the  north,  in  preference  to  a  slaveholder.  I  wish  that  all  the 
whigs  of  the  Union  would  agree  with  me  on  this  point.  But 
such  is  not  the  case.  Yet  I  can  not  agree  with  those  who  can- 
see  no  difference  between  a  northern  doughface  and  a  southern 
slaveholder.  In  1844,  we  were  told  that  there  was  no  difference- 
between  the  slaveholder  of  Kentucky  and  James  K.  Polk,  the- 
slaveholder  of  Tennessee.  But  the  result  has  shown  that  there 
was  a  marked  difference ;  and  had  Mr.  Clay  been  elected,  there 
would  have  been  no  annexation  of  Texas,  no  war  of  conquest,  no 
extension  of  slavery.  We  are  in  the  same  position  now,  but  I 
must  remind  you  that  in  this  contest  the  election  of  president  is 
not  the  only  important  question.  The  senators  and  representa- 
tives in  Congress  are  to  pass  the  laws  on  this  question ;  and 
should  General  Cass  be  elected,  and  Congress  vote  on  tins  subject 
of  the  extension  of  slavery,  we  should  find  in  him  a  willing  chief 
to  carry  out  their  measures  —  one  who  would  prostitute  all  the 
patronage  of  the  government  to  influence  the  members  of  Con- 
Yoi,  III.— 19 


290  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

gress  in  their  votes.  But  let  the  other  candidate  be  elected,  and 
the  executive  power  will  not  be  used  for  such  a  purpose.  And  if 
men  are  not  sent  to  Congress  who  are  recreant  to  their  trust,  no 
such  laws  will  be  sent  to  the  executive  for  his  approval.  Let 
General  Taylor  be  elected,  and  he  will  not  lend  the  power  of  the 
government  to  extend  this  fearful  evil.  I  shall  vote  for  General 
Taylor,  because  I  believe  him  in  all  respects  to  be  as  worthy  as 
any  man  who  is  a  slaveholder.  He  is  an  honest  man  ;  I  love  to 
see  the  American  people  select  for  their  rulers  honest  men.  1 
am  in  favor  of  peace,  and  am  willing  to  devote  the  best«efforts 
of  my  life  to  secure  it.  But  I  honor  the  soldier  as  well  as  the 
civilian  :  each  is  necessary,  and  I  believe  each  is  commended  on 
high,  if  his  motives  are  pure. 

Some  say  General  Taylor  is  a  whig,  but  not  an  ultra- whig ;  yet 
who  would  wish  to  have  an  ultra-whig  chosen  for  president?  I 
would  much  prefer  a  decided  whig,  like  General  Taylor,  to  an 
ultra-whig.  If  we  desire  a  whig  administration,  we  must  take 
such  a  whig  as  we  can  elect,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  every  whig  to 
do  all  in  his  power  to  secure  this  end.  When  I  have  been  re- 
monstrated writh  on  former  occasions,  by  members  of  the  liberty 
party,  for  not  joining  them,  I  have  always  replied:  "If  you  had 
not  deserted  the  whig  party,  but  had  remained  faithful  tp  '*" 
principles,  and  imprinted  on  them  more  strongly  your  desires,  it 
would  have  been  a  noble,  generous  party  indeed.  It  is  your  fault 
if  it  is  not  so  now."  Let,  then,  this  third  party  draw  off  all  the 
advocates  of  liberty,  and  the  two  real  parties  will  be  left  ready 
to  bow  before  the  slave  power  and  influence  of  the  south. 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1848.  291 


THE   ELECTION  OF  1848. 

CLEVELAND,    OHIO,    OCTOBER    26,    1848. 

]My  Friends  and  Fellow-Citizens: 

The  urgency  of  the  invitations  which  have  brought  me  here 
has  overcome  at  least  the  objections  arising  from  the  presumptu- 
ousness  which  seems  to  be  implied  in  going  from  my  native  state 
to  debate  political  questions  before  a  people  from  whose  eloquent 
orators  and  honorable  statesmen  it  has  been  my  pride  to  imbibe 
enthusiasm  and  receive  instruction. 

If  I  shall  be  able  to  offer  nothing  that  is  valuable,  I  shall  not 
throw  before  you  any  of  those  rhetorical  wreatns  which  an  in- 
dulgent audience  is  sometimes  willing  to  accept  in  place  of  more 
important  contributions. 

The  occasion  invites  to  a  consideration  of  many  grave  subjects. 
But  the  time  is  sh.ort.  I  shall  waste  little  on  the  prejudices  which 
constitute  the  chief  capital  of  our  political  adversaries.  The  two 
ancient  and  obsolete  parties  originated  in  the  debate  upon  ques- 
tions of  organic  law,  and  waxed  strong  in  the  discussion  of  the 
principles  of  administration  proper  for  a  neutral  nation  during 
the  conflict  between  European  belligerents.  Each  performed  its 
duties  and  fulfilled  its  destiny ;  each  contributed  enough  to  be 
remembered  in  lasting  gratitude ;  and  each  was  hurried  at  times 
into  errors  to  be  forgiven  and  avoided. 

"The  knights  are  dust, 
Their  swords  in  rust, 
Their  souls  in  heaven  we  trust" 

Our  duties  are  to  the  generation  which  is  living,  and  to  the 
generations  which  are  to  come  into  life.     It  is  a  living  faith,  and 

Note. — The  certainty  of  an  overwhelming  whig  triumph  in  New  York  rendered 
public  speaking  there  well  nigh  superfluous.  Mr.  Seward,  therefore,  accepted  invita- 
tions to  address  his  fellow-citizens  in  other  states  where  the  prospects  were  less  propi- 
tious. Among  the  numerous  speeches  made  during  the  canvass  of  1848,  the  "Cleve- 
land speech"  has  been  justly  regarded  as  the  most  able  and  the  most  eloquent. — Ed. 


292  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

not  a  dead  one,  that  yields  beneficent  fruits.  He  who  acts  from? 
prejudice  or  from  passion  is  a  slave.  He  who  persuades  anothei 
to  act  so  makes  him  a  slave.  The  ballot-box  is  an  altar  of  inde- 
pendence, not  of  slavery :  — 

"Thou  of  an  independent  mind. 
With  soul  resolved,  with  soul  resigned, 
Prepared  Oppression's  proudest  frowns  to  brave, 
Who  will  not  be  nor  make  a  slave, 
Virtue  alone  who  dost  revere, 
Thy  own  reproach  alone  dost  fear — 
Approach  this  shrine  and  worship  here." 

I  am  to  converse  with  whigs  only,  and  not  with  all  whigs,  but 
with  some  who  propose  to  secede  temporarily  if  not  permanently 
from  the  association  whose  labors,  privations,  defeats,  and  tri- 
umphs, they  have  hitherto  shared  with  perseverance  and  fidel- 
ity. I  shall  speak  not  for  a  man,  not  for  men,  not  even  for  a 
party,  but  for  the  common  cause  which  thus  far  has  held  us 
together,  and  winch  the  seceders  promise  to  advance  more  effect- 
ually by  separation.  To  such  I  may  say,  perhaps,  without  pre- 
sumption— 

"Hear  me  for  my  cause,  and  be  silent,  that  you  may  hear;  believe  me  for  mine 
honor,  and  have  respect  unto  mine  honor  that  you  may  the  better  judge." 

I  shall  ask  you  to  consider,  first,  the  principles  and  policy 
which  the  interest  of  our  country  and  of  humanity  demand  ;  sec- 
ondly, how  we  can  most  effectually  render  those  principles  and 
that  policy  triumphant. 

We  never  were,  we  are  not  now,  and  for  a  long  time  to  come 
we  can  not  be,  a  unique  and  homogeneous  people.  The  colo- 
nies which  preceded  our  states  were  off-shoots  from  an  imperfect 
European  civilization.  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  Wales,  France, 
Spain,  Switzerland,  Italy,  Germany,  Holland,  and  Sweden,  con- 
tributed the  original  elements  of  population ;  with  these  were 
mingled  the  natives  of  the  continent,  and  compulsory  immigra- 
tion from  the  wilds  of  Africa.  The  disasters  and  privations  of 
the  Old  World  cause  this  flood  of  immigration  to  continue  with 
daily-increasing  volume,  and  our  settlements  on  the  Pacific  will 
soon  become  the  gate  for  a  similar  flow  from  the  worn-out 
civilization  of  Asia.  Our  twenty  millions  are  expanding  to 
two  hundred  millions  —  our  originally  narrow  domain  into  a 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1848.  293 

great  empire.  Its  destiny  is  to  renovate  the  condition  of  man- 
kind. 

The  first  principle  of  our  duty  as  American  citizens  is  to  pre- 
serve the  integrity  of  the  Union.  Without  the  Union,  there 
would  be  not  only  a  want  of  harmony  of  action,  but  collisions 
and  conflicts  ending  in  anarchy  or  probably  in  despotism.  This 
Union  must  be  a  voluntary  one,  and  not  compulsory.  A  Union 
upheld  by  force  would  be  despotism. 

The  second  principle  of  American  citizenship  is,  that  our  dem- 
ocratic system  must  be  preserved  and  perfected.  That  system  is 
founded  in  the  natural  equality  of  all  men — not  alone  all  Amer- 
ican men,  nor  alone  all  white  men,  but  all  men  of  every  country, 
clime,  and  complexion,  are  equal — not  made  equal  by  human 
laws,  but  born  equal.  It  results  from  this  that  every  man  per- 
manently residing  in  a  community  is  a  member  of  the  state, 
obliged  to  submit  to  its  rule,  and  therefore  entitled  equally  with 
every  other  man  to  participate  in  its  government.  If  it  be  a 
monarchy,  he  has  a  right  to  keep  a  musket  to  defend  himself 
when  the  government  becomes  intolerable.  If  it  be  a  democracy, 
where  consent  is  substituted  for  force,  he  has  a  right  to  a  ballot 
for  the  same  purpose ;  and  each  should  be  placed  in  his  hands 
(he  being  a  resident)  when  he  is  able  to  speed  the  bullet  or  cast 
the  ballot  with  discretion.  Whatever  institutions  or  laws  we 
have  existing  among  us  which  deny  this  principle,  are  wrong, 
and  ought  to  be  corrected. 

A  third  principle  of  American  citizenship  is,  that  knowledge 
•ought  to  be  diffused,  as  well  for  the  safety  of  the  state,  as  to  pro- 
mote the  happiness  of  society. 

A  fourth  principle  is,  that  our  national  resources,  physical, 
moral,  and  intellectual,  ought  to  be  developed  and  applied  to  in- 
crease the  public  wealth,  and  enhance  the  convenience  and  com- 
fort of  the  people. 

A  fifth  principle  is,  that  peace  and  moderation  are  indispensa- 
ble to  the  preservation  of  republican  institutions. 

A  sixth  principle  is,  that  slavery  must  be  abolished. 

I  think  these  are  the  principles  of  the  whigs  of  the  Western 
Reserve  of  Ohio.  I  am  not  now  to  say  for  the  first  time  that 
they  are  mine.  I  imbibed  them  from  the  philosophy  of  the 
American  Revolution  — 

"Soon  as  the  charity  of  my  native  land 
Wrought,  in  my  hosom." 


294  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

Whigs  of  the  Western  Reserve  !  we  have  maintained  and  pro- 
mulgated these  principles  thus  far  together,  through  the  agency, 
sometimes  voluntary  and  sometimes  reluctant,  of  the  whig  party 
of  the  United  States.  Some  of  you  propose  now  to  abandon  that 
mode  and  adopt  another.  What  is  wisdom  and  duty  for  you, 
must  be  wisdom  and  duty  for  me.  I  have  considered  your  rea- 
sons, and  they  are  unsatisfactory. 

And,  in  the  first  place,  I  confess  a  bias  against  your  course  by 
reason  of  an  aversion  to  break  faith  and  change  relations.  Man,, 
though  free  to  act,  is  nevertheless  a  minister  of  God,  an  agent  of 
his  providence !  His  happiness  consists  in  the  performance  of 
appointed  duties  of  beneficence.  The  Creator  determined  from 
the  first,  not  only  that  it  was  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone,  but 
also  that  he  should  never  act  alone.  Hence  the  relations  of  life 
—  the  relations  of  the  family,  the  relations  of  the  church  and  re- 
ligion ;  the  relations  of  the  army  in  war,  the  relations  of  party  in 
peace.  Through  these  relations,  and  not  otherwise,  we  must  seek 
our  own  happiness  and  serve  our  country  and  our  race.  The  cus- 
tom which  attaches  sanctit}^  to  each  of  these  relations  is  the  moral 
sense  of  mankind,  which  justly  and  severely  condemns  apostacy 
and  infidelity.  A  change  of  such  relations  may  sometimes  be 
excusable,  and  occasionally  necessary  ;  but  even  in  such  cases  it 
is  always  unfortunate,  and,  except  for  weighty  causes,  is  always 
unjustifiable.  Versatility  and  caprice  are  defects  —  vices.  Per- 
severance and  fidelity  are  among  the  chief  elements  of  elevated 
character,  and  are  indispensable  to  usefulness. 

You  expect  to  establish  a  new  and  better  party,  that  will  carry 
our  common  principles  to  more  speedy  and  universal  triumph. 
You  will  not  succeed,  in  any  degree,  neither  now  nor  hereafter, 
because  it  is  impossible.  Society  is  divided,  classified  already. 
It  is  classified  into  two  great,  all-pervading,  national  parties  or 
associations.  These  parties  are  founded  on  the  principles,  inter- 
ests, and  affections,  of  the  people.  Society  can  not  admit  nor 
will  it  sustain  a  third  party,  nor  will  it  surrender  either  of  the 
existing  parties  to  make  room  for  a  third.  The  interests,  the  sen- 
timents, and  the  habits  of  society,  forbid:  — 

"The  'stars  in  their  courses  war  against  Sisera." 

It  is  in  the  power  of  a  seceding  portion  of  one  party,  or  of  se- 
ceding portions  of  both,  to  do  just  this  and  no  more,  to  wit:  to 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1848.  295 

give  success,  long  or  short,  to  one  of  the  existing  parties.  Those 
who  do  this,  whatever  be  their  objects  or  motives,  are  responsible 
for  the  consequences.  Theirs  is  the  merit  if  the  consequences  are 
beneficent,  and  theirs  is  the  blame  if  the  result  is  calamitous. 
If  all  the  whigs  shall  be  true,  the  whig  party  will  prevail  in  this 
election;  seceding  whigs  can  only  give  success  to  the  party  of 
Lewis  Cass. 

The  elections  which  have  already  been  held  have  rendered  it 
certain,  if  indeed  it  needed  demonstration,  that  Martin  Van  Buren, 
so  far  from  obtaining  an  election,  can  not  obtain  the  electoral 
vote  of  one  state,  or  even  one  electoral  vote. 

What  will  be  the  consequences  of  the  success  thus  to  be  given 
to  the  party  of  General  Cass?  These  are  to  be  ascertained,  not 
from  the  specious  exposition  of  that  party,  nor  the  perhaps  over- 
cautious silence  of  the  other  party,  but  the  known  and  irresistible 
bias  and  direction  of  the  parties  respectively. 

There  are  two  antagonistical  elements  of  society  in  America, 
freedom  and  slavery.  Freedom  is  in  harmony  with  our  system 
of  government  and  with  the  spirit  of  the  age,  and  is  therefore 
passive  and  quiescent.  Slavery  is  in  conflict  with  that  system, 
with  justice,  and  with  humanity,  and  is  therefore  organized,  de- 
fensive, active,  and  perpetually  aggressive. 

Freedom  insists  on  the  emancipation  and  elevation  of  labor ; 
slavery  demands  a  soil  moistened  with  tears  and  blood  —  freedom  a 
soil  that  exults  under  the  elastic  tread  of  man  in  his  native  majesty. 

These  elements  divide  and  classify  the  American  people  into 
two  parties.  Each  of  these  parties  has  its  court  and  its  sceptre. 
The  throne  of  the  one  is  amid  the  rocks  of  the  Allegany  mount- 
ains ;  the  throne  of  the  other  is  reared  on  the  sands  of  South  Car- 
olina. One  of  these  parties,  the  party  of  slavery,  regards  disun- 
ion as  among  the  means  of  defence,  and  not  always  the  last  to  be 
employed.  The  other  maintains  the  Union  of  the  states,  one  and 
inseparable,  now  and  for  ever,  as  the  highest  duty  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  to  themselves,  to  posterity,  to  mankind. 

The  party  of  slavery  upholds  an  aristocracy  founded  on  the 
humiliation  of  labor,  as  necessary  to  the  perfection  of  a  chivalrous 
republic.  The  party  of  freedom  maintains  universal  suffrage, 
which  makes  men  equal  before  human  laws,  as  they  are  in  sight 
of  their  common  Creator. 

The  party  of  slavery  cherishes  ignorance,   because  it  is  the 


296  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

only  security  for  oppression.  The  party  of  liberty  demands  the 
diffusion  of  knowledge,  because  it  is  the  only  safeguard  of  repub- 
lican institutions. 

The  party  of  slavery  patronizes  labor  which  produces  only  ex- 
ports to  commercial  nations  abroad  —  tobacco,  cotton,  and  sugar 
—  and  abhors  the  protection  that  draws  grain  from  our  native 
fields,  lumber  from  our  native  forests,  iron  and  coal  from  our  na- 
tive mines,  and  ingenuity,  skill,  and  labor,  from  the  free  minds 
and  willing  hands  of  our  own  people. 

The  party  of  freedom  favors  only  the  productions  of  such  minds 
and  such  hands,  and  seeks  to  build  up  our  empire  out  of  the  re- 
dundant native  materials  with  which  our  country  is  blest. 

The  party  of  slavery  leaves  the  mountain  ravine  and  shoal  to 
present  all  their  natural  obstacles  to  internal  trade  and  free  loco- 
motion, because  railroads,  rivers,  and  canals,  are  highways  for 
the  escape  of  bondsmen. 

The  party  of  liberty  would  cover  the  country  with  railroads 
and  canals,  to  promote  the  happiness  of  the  people,  and  bind 
them  together  with  the  indissoluble  bonds  of  interest  and  affec- 
tion. 

The  party  of  slavery  maintains  its  military  defences,  and  culti- 
vates the  martial  spirit,  for  it  knows  not  the  day  nor  the  hour 
when  a  standing  army  will  not  be  necessary  to  suppress  and  ex- 
tirpate the  insurrectionary  bondsmen. 

The  party  of  freedom  cherishes  peace,  because  its  sway  is  sus- 
tained by  the  consent  of  a  happy  and  grateful  people. 

The  party  of  slavery  fortifies  itself  by  adding  new  slave-bound 
domain  on  fraudulent  pretexts  and  with  force. 

The  party  of  freedom  is  content  and  moderate,  seeking  only  a 
just  enlargement  of  free  territory. 

The  party  of  slavery  declares  that  institution  necessary,  benefi- 
cent, and  approved  of  God,  and  therefore  inviolable. 

The  party  of  freedom  seeks  complete  and  universal  emancipa- 
tion. 

You,  whigs  of  the  Reserve,  and  you  especially,  seceding  whigs, 
none  know  so  well  as  you  that  these  two  elements  exist  and  are 
developed  in  the  two  great  national  parties  of  the  land,  as  I  have 
described  them.  That  existence  and  development  constitute  the 
only  reason  you  can  assign  for  having  been  enrolled  in  the  whig 
party,  and  mustered  under  its  banner  so  zealouslv  and  so  long. 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1848.  297 

And  now  I  am  not  to  contend  that  the  evil  spirit  I  have  described 
has  possessed  the  one  party  without  mitigation  or  exception,  and 
that  the  beneficent  one  has  on  all  occasions,  and  fully,  directed 
the  action  of  the  other.  But  I  appeal  to  you,  to  your  candor  and 
justice,  whether  the  beneficent  spirit  has  not  worked  chiefly  in 
the  whig  party,  and  its  antagonist  in  the  adverse  party. 

The  allusion  to  the  inviolability  of  the  Union  recalls  the  con- 
flict of  nullification  and  its  compromise  —  the  battle  of  the  giants, 
Webster  and  Hayne  —  Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina  in  ear- 
nest struggle  —  the  one  for  the  Union,  the  other  for  its  overthrow. 

The  mention  of  education  brings  up  whig  New  York,  with  her 
thousands  of  common  schools  opened  to  Protestant  and  Catholic, 
Jew  and  Christian,  alike,  and  the  millions  of  volumes  in  their 
free  libraries;  and  aristocratic  Virginia,  with  a  university  for  the 
sons  of  the  rich  alone,  without  schools  or  libraries  for  the  slaves, 
or  even  for  the  poor. 

The  contrast  between  protection  of  American  industry  and  the 
ruinous  policy  of  free  trade,  which  means  dependence  on  foreign 
artisans,  brings  up  before  us  Clay  and  his  American  system,  and 
Calhoun  with  a  South-Carolinian  system  of  secession  from  the 
Union. 

The  topic  of  internal  improvement  calls  before  us  the  shades 
of  John  Quincy  Adams  and  Andrew  Jackson  —  the  glorious  epis- 
tles of  Clinton  to  the  legislature  of  New  York,  and  the  elaborate 
and  explicit  communication  of  General  Cass  to  the  Chicago  con- 
vention. One  can  not  think  of  the  questions  of  war  and  peace 
without  summoning  before  him  the  belligerent  Polk,  with  the 
gasconading  Cass,  and  the  peace-loving  whig  Congress  of  1848. 

The  subject  of  emancipation  carries  us  at  once  to  the  fresh 
grave  at  Quincy,  where  the  defender  of  the  right  of  petition,  of 
the  freedom  of  debate,  and  of  the  inviolability  of  tire  postoffice, 
rests  from  his  labors,  and  to  Martin  Van  Buren,  his  great  and 
unprincipled  rival  and  adversary. 

So  marked  is  this  contrast,  that  among  the  thousands  of  sece- 
ding whigs,  from  the  bay  of  Fundy  to  the  Rio  Grande,  only  one 
has  been  found  to  enlist  himself  under  the  banner  of  Lewis  Cass, 
although  he  is  not  a  slav  holder,  and  is  the  citizen  of  a  state 
where  slavery  can  not  enter. 

The  first  and  most  immediate  consequence  of  the  error  of  those 
that  call  themselves  free-soil  whigs  will  be  the  defeat  of  the  only 


298  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

measure  which  is  avowed  as  the  object  of  the  new  faction  —  the 
exclusion  of  slavery  from  the  territories  of  California  and  New 
Mexico. 

For,  without  establishing  the  ordinance  of  1787  as  a  part  of 
the  organic  law  of  these  territories,  you  will,  if  as  successful  as 
you  desire,  effectually  deprive  us,  your  ancient  associates,  of  the 
means  of  doing  so.  You  give  to  slavery  extension  greater  area 
than  ever  was  demanded  by  Mr.  Calhoun  in  the  annexation  of 
Texas. 

The  whig  party,  overthrown  now  by  your  desertion  in  the  very 
act  of  defending  the  citadel  of  freedom,  will  not  recover  itself  for 
new  conflicts  until  you  shall  have  proved  by  experience  the  utter 
impracticability  of  the  attempt  to  create  a  new  and  more  faithful 
party  of  freedom  ;  and  the  further  consequences  will  be,  new  des- 
olation of  industry,  confirmed  resistance  to  internal  improve- 
ments, new  conspiracies  against  the  integrity  of  other  nations, 
new  annexations  of  slave  territory,  and  new  wars  to  defend  them, 
until  slavery  shall  have  intrenched  itself  behind  battlements 
which  can  not  be  broken  down. 

Your  arguments  for  a  course  thus  subversive  of  your  own 
principles  are,  that  the  whig  party  has  nominated  a  slaveholder ; 
that  their  convention  have  not  issued  a  manifesto  declaring  their 
opposition  to  the  extension  of  slavery  ;  that  their  candidate  is  not 
pledged  against  it  —  is  silent  —  and  may  be  in  favor  of  it;  and 
that  he  is  a  warrior,  dwelling  in  his  camp.  From  these  assump- 
tions you  infer  that  the  whig  party  has  renounced  its  faith  and 
abandoned  its  principles,  and  must  dissolve,  or  is  dissolved. 

In  all  things  in  which  the  whig  convention  and  party  have  dif- 
fered from  you,  I  have  differed  from  them.  I  may,  therefore, 
excuse  them,  without  apologizing  for  myself. 

And  first,  in  regard  to  the  objection  that  General  Taylor  is  a 
slaveholder.  I  wish  that  the  American  people,  or  a  majority  of 
them,  could  see  slavery  to  be  as  odious  as  you  and  I  do.  Then 
they  would  not  consent  to  the  administration  of  the  government 
by  any  citizen  who  should  justify  slavery  by  precept  or  by  ex- 
ample. But  the  age  is  not  yet  ripe  for  that.  Neither  I  nor  you 
can  change  in  a  day  the  habits  of  a  whole  people.  Parties  can 
be  no  better  than  the  best  spirit  of  the  age  in  which  they  exist. 
George  Washington,  a  slaveholder,  was  nominated  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  American  army  by  John  Adams,  the  Ajax  of  free- 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1848.  299 

dom.  Thomas  Jefferson,  a  slaveholder,  was  designated  by  the- 
Congress  of  '76  to  indite  the  immortal  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence, which  constitutes  your  own  text-book.  In  later  days,  you, 
every  one  of  you,  would  have  closed  my  mouth  as  a  seditious 
one  if  I  had  but  whispered  to  you  that  Henry  Clay  was  a  slave- 
holder. You,  more  than  any  others,  concurred  in  binding  the 
whig  convention  at  Philadelphia  to  a  choice  between  two  slave- 
holders. You  know  that  the  question  is  not  a  personal  question 
between  the  candidates  of  the  two  parties,  but  that  it  is  a  ques- 
tion between  the  two  parties  themselves  —  between  the  party  of 
liberty  and  the  party  of  slavery.  The  slaveholding  of  the  candi- 
date is  a  personal  matter,  an  ephemeral  one ;  the  error,  if  it  be 
one,  can  be  corrected ;  the  principles  of  the  whig  party  are  na- 
tional and  eternal.  The  slaveholding  of  General  Taylor  is  a  sub- 
ordinate issue  —  an  immaterial  one  —  a  false  issue.  You  take 
nothing  for  freedom  by  preventing  his  election  on  that  issue. 
You  can  never  retrieve  what  you  will  have  lost  by  the  triumph 
of  the  slavery  party. 

Secondly,  you  object  that  the  whig  convention  issued  no  mani- 
festo against  the  extension  of  slavery.  Was  such  a  manifesto 
necessary  ?  Did  not  the  whig  party  oppose  the  annexation  of 
Texas  —  the  dismemberment  of  Mexico  ?  Did  not  they  condemn 
the  war? 

Did  they  not  incorporate  your  own  ordinance  of  1787  in  the 
charter  of  Oregon  ?  Did  they  not  incorporate  that  ordinance  in 
the  charters  of  New  Mexico  and  California  ?  Have  they  not  re- 
jected all  compromises  upon  that  point?  Would  a  pronuncia- 
mento  have  added  any  guaranty  to  these  high  acts  of  fidelity  to 
human  freedom  ?  Were  the  phylacteries  wftrn  by  the  sons  of 
Levi  necessary  to  prove  their  devotion  to  God?  The  laws  of 
freedom  are  "  written  in  the  members"  of  the  whig  party,  and 
oblige  them  to  oppose  the  extension  of  slavery. 

Thirdly,  you  object  that  General  Taylor  has  not  announced  his- 
opposition  to  the  extension  of  slavery  —  that  he  is  silent,  and  may 
be  in  favor  of  it.  The  slave  party  need  pledges  of  their  chief,, 
for  they  resign  the  government  into  his  hands.  The  whigs  need 
none,  for  they  retain  it  themselves.  General  Taylor  stands  on 
the  same  ground  which  General  Harrison  held,  the  rightful  au- 
thority of  the  legislature  to  pass  all  laws  which  do  not  contravene 
the  constitution  as  established  judicially  or  by  legislative  prece- 


$00  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

dents.  The  whigs,  being  a  national  party,  have  a  majority  of 
their  numbers  favorable  to  questions  of  free  soil  and  free  labor, 
and  a  minority  opposed.  Pronunciamentos  by  conventions  and 
candidates  could  only  divide  the  party  unwisely,  and  procure 
their  defeat  unnecessarily. 

Fourthly,  you  object  that  General  Taylor  is  a  warrior,  in  his 
camp.  Yet  you  see  that  civilians  have  betrayed  the  interests  of 
peace,  and  you  know  that  the  most  effectual  rebuke  they  can 
receive  will  be  the  election  of  a  hero  in  their  place — of  a  hero 
opposed  to  war  and  conquest. 

Fifthly :  from  these  arguments  you  infer  that  the  whig  party 
have  fallen  away  from  their  ancient  faith.  I  admit  its  compara- 
tive unsoundness.  I  confess  it,  but  it  is  still  the  truest  and  most 
faithful  of  the  two  parties,  and  one  or  the  other  of  them  must 
prevail.  The  unsoundness  of  both  arises  from  the  fault  of  the 
country  and  of  the  age.  Neither  was  ever  more  sound  and  faith- 
ful than  it  is  now :  it  is  your  duty  and  mine  to  make  them  both 
more  faithful. 

Slavery  was  once  the  sin,  not  of  some  of  the  states  only,  but 
of  them  all  —  not  of  our  nation  only,  but  of  all  nations.  It  per- 
verted and  corrupted  the  moral  sense  of  mankind,  deeply,  univer- 
sally ;  and  this  corruption  became  a  universal  habit.  Habits  of 
thought  became  fixed  principles.  No  American  state  has  yet 
delivered  itself  entirely  from  those  habits.  We  in  New  York  are 
guilty  of  slavery  still,  by  withholding  the  right  of  suffrage  from 
the  race  we  have  emancipated.  You  in  Ohio  are  guilty  in  the 
same  way,,  by  a  system  of  black-laws,  still  more  aristocratic  and 
odious.  It  is  written  in  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  that 
five  slaves  shall  count  equal  to  three  free  men,  as  a  basis  of  rep- 
resentation ;  and  it  is  written  also,  in  violation  of  the  Divine  law, 
that  we  shall  surrender  the  fugitiye  slave  who  takes  refuge  at 
our  fireside  from  his  relentless  pursuers.  You  blush  not  at  these 
things,  because  they  have  become  as  familiar  as  household  words, 
and  your  pretended  free-soil  allies  claim  particular  merit  for 
maintaining  these  miscalled  guaranties  of  slavery  which  they  find 
in  the  national  compact. 

Does  not  all  this  prove  that  the  whig  party  have  kept  up  with 
the  spirit  of  the  age  —  that  it  is  as  true  and  faithful  to  human 
freedom  as  the  inert  conscience  of  the  American  people  will  per- 
mit it  to  be? 


THE  ELECTION  OF  1848.  301 

1  What,  then  V  you  say,  c  can  nothing  be  done  for  freedom  be- 
cause the  public  conscience  is  inert?'  Yes,  much  can  be  done  — 
everything  can  be  done.  Slavery  can  be  limited  to  its  present 
bounds,  it  can  be  ameliorated,  it  can  be  and  must  be  abolished,, 
and  you  and  I  can  and  must  do  it.  The  task  is  as  simple  and 
easy  as  its  consummation  will  be  beneficent  and  its  rewards  glo- 
rious. It  requires  only  to  follow  this  simple  rule  of  action,  viz. : 
to  do  everywhere  and  on  every  occasion  what  we  can,  and  not  to 
neglect  or  refuse  to  do  what  we  can  at  any  time,  because  at  that 
precise  time  and  on  that  particular  occasion  we  can  not  do  more. 
Circumstances  determine  possibilities.  When  we  have  done  our 
best  to  shape  them  and  make  them  propitious,  we  may  rest  satis- 
fied that  superior  Wisdom  has  determined  their  form  as  they  ex- 
ist, and  will  be  satisfied  with  us  if  we  then  do  all  the  good  that 
circumstances  leave  in  our  power.  But  we  must  begin  deeper 
and  lower  than  in  the  composition  and  combination  of  factions 
and  parties.  Wherein  do  the  strength  and  security  of  slavery 
lie?  You  answer  that  they  lie  in  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  constitution  and  laws  of  all  slaveholding  states- 
Not  at  all.  They  lie  in  the  erroneous  sentiment  of  the  American 
people.  Constitutions  and  laws  can  no  more  rise  above  the  vir- 
tue of  the  people  than  the  limpid  stream  can  climb  above  its 
native  spring.  Inculcate,  then,  the  love  of  freedom  and  the  equal 
rights  of  man,  under  the  paternal  roof ;  see  to  it  that  they  are 
taught  in  the  schools  and  in  the  churches  ;  reform  your  own  code 
—  extend  a  cordial  welcome  to  the  fugitive  who  lays  his  weary 
limbs  at  your  door,  and  defend  him  as  you  would  your  paternal 
gods ;  correct  your  own  error,  that  slavery  has  any  constitutional 
guaranty  which  may  not  be  released,  and  ought  not  to  be  relin- 
quished. Say  to  Slavery,  when  it  shows  its  bond  and  demands 
the  pound  of  flesh,  that  if  it  draws  one  drop  of  blood,  its  life  shall 
pay  the  forfeit.  Inculcate  that  free  states  can  maintain  the  rights 
of  hospitality  and  of  humanity  ;  that  executive  authority  can  for- 
bear to  favor  slavery  ;  that  Congress  can  debate  ;  that  Congress 
at  least  can  mediate  with  the  slaveholding  states,  that  at  least 
future  generations  might  be  bought  and  given  up  to  freedom ; 
•and  that  the  treasures  wasted  in  the  war  with  Mexico  would  have 
been  sufficient  to  have  redeemed  millions  unborn  from  bondage. 
Do  all  this  and  inculcate  all  this  in  the  spirit  of  moderation  and 
benevolence,  and  not  of  retaliation  and  fanaticism,  and  you  will 


302  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

soon  bring  the  parties  of  the  country  into  an  effective  aggression 
upon  slavery.  Whenever  the  public  mind  shall  will  the  aboli- 
tion of  slavery,  the  way  will  open  for  it. 

I  know  that  you  will  tell  me  that  this  is  all  too  slow.  Well, 
then,  go  faster  if  you  can,  and  I  will  go  with  you  ;  but  remember 
the  instructive  lesson  that  was  taught  in  the  words,  "  These  things 
ought  ye  to  have  done,  and  not  to  have  left  the  others  undone." 
Remember  that  the  liberty  party  tried  the  unattainable,  over- 
looking the  attainable,' and  now  has  compromised  and  surrendered 
the  principle  of  immediate  emancipation  for  a  coalition  to  effect 
a  practicable  measure  which  can  only  be  defeated  by  that  coali- 
tion. Remember  that  no  human  work  is  done  without  prepara- 
tion. God  works  out  his  sublimest  purposes  among  men  with 
preparation.  There  was  a  voice  of  one  crying  in  the  wilderness, 
u  Prepare  ye  the  way,"  before  the  Son  of  man  could  come.  There 
was  a  John  before  a  Jesus ;  there  was  a  baptism  of  water  before 
the  baptism  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  fire. 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING  303 


WHIG    MASS    MEETING. 

NEW  YORK,   OCTOBER   5,    1848. 

Your  summons  requiring  me  to  be  here  to-night,  found  me 
laboring  in  the  whig  cause  in  Pennsylvania.  Orators  are  needed 
there.     They  are  not  wanted,  at  least  not  greatly  wanted  here 

Almost  every  general  who  has  been  engaged  in  the  Mexican 
war  has  been  called  to  Washington.  Scott,  Worth,  and  Cush- 
ing,  ay,  even  Pillow  has  not  been  forgotten.  Taylor  only,  who 
broke  the  first  wave  of  resistance  and  made  the  way  to  Mexico 
easy,  has  been  overlooked.  We  must  correct  that  and  call  him 
up  to  the  capital ;  he  must  report  himself  there  on  the  4th  of 
March  next. 

Fellow-citizens,  I  am  not  in  favor  of  war,  nor  of  military  can- 
didates before  civilians.  War  may  bring  benefits,  but  peace  is 
the  sure  policy  for  the  republic.  Nevertheless  there  is  sometimes 
a  distinguished  fitness  in  choosing  a  military  candidate,  and 
there  is  a  peculiar  felicity  in  choosing  General  Taylor  now. 
Civilians  preferring  partisan  interests  to  the  general  good,  plunged 
the  country  into  a  war,  and  we  of  course  have  stood  by  the 
country  in  the  peril,  as  all  patriotic  citizens  must  do  in  such  cases. 
How  can  we  better  teach  such  statesmen  the  wisdom  of  peace, 
than  by  preferring  over  them  the  hero,  who,  while  he  carried  the 
war  through  with  success  and  glory,  was  nevertheless  opposed  to 
the  policy  of  the  war  and  to  its  authors. 

Fellow-citizens,  I  have  only  a  word  about  the  economical  ques- 
tions of  the  day.  We  are  on  the  verge  of  a  commercial  revolu- 
tion similar  to  that  of  1837.  The  cause  of  it  is  the  same.  The 
excess  of  importations  produced  by  a  tariff  that  sustains  the  for- 
eign manufactures  at  the  expense  of  the  domestic  manufactures. 
If  no  change  occurs  in  some  way,  we  shall  before  the  end  of  the 

Note. — Remarks  at  a  meeting  of  the  cartmen  of  the  city  of  New  York,  held  Octo- 
ber 5,  1848,  at  Vauxhall  garden. 


304  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

next  four  years  find  the  disasters  of  that  memorable  period  re- 
newed ;  we  must  rally  on  that  ground,  and  with  Millard  Fillmore 
as  our  representative,  restore  the  tariff  of  1842. 

But  the  great  interest  of  the  country  involved  in  this  canvas* 
is  the  interest  of  freedom.  The  next  Congress  will  extend  eithei 
freedom  or  slavery  in  the  newly-acquired  territories.  Shall  it  be 
freedom  or  slavery  %  Freedom  of  course  you  say,  and  you  say 
well.*  For  slavery  is  opposed  to  all  the  economical  interests  of 
the  free  states,  and  that  is  reason  enough  for  not  extending  it 
besides  all  others.  Well  now,  the  fate  of  the  ordinance  of  178T 
hangs  on  the  result  of  this  great  canvass.  If  we  elect  Genera 
Taylor  we  shall  elect  with  him  a  whig  Congress.  That  whig  Col 
gress  will  send  him  a  hill  prohibiting  the  extension  of  slavery,  and 
he  stands  pledged  not  to  thwart  the  wishes  of  the  people  by  a  veto 
On  the  other  hand  if  General  Cass  should  be  elected  with  a  Con- 
gress of  his  friends  and  of  his  principles,  what  will  follow  but  the 
passage  and  the  signature  of  bills  organizing  the  new  territories 
on  the  basis  of  slavery  ?  Or  if  he  should  be  elected,  and  a  ma- 
jority of  Congress  should  send  him  a  bill  prohibiting  slavery  in 
those  new  territories,  then  he  must  veto  it.  When  that  shall  be 
done,  we  shall  have  seen  the  constitution  practically  changed,, 
and  the  government  will  have  passed  from  one  truly  republican 
and  democratic,  to  one.  in  which  the  executive  power  will  control 
the  legislation  and  defeat  the  will  of  the  people.  So  you  see 
that  it  is  not  for  General  Taylor  as  a  general  that  we  are  voting, 
but  it  is  for  whig  principles  with  which  he  is  identified.  We 
vote  for  him  because  our  Congress  will  command  his  respect  and 
the  judiciary  his  obedience. 

I  regret  to  observe  that  some  of  our  former  friends  who  love 
freedom  as  we  do,  are  leaving  us  to  engage  in  a  guerilla  warfare 
against  both  parties  under  Martin  Van  Buren.  Their  motives 
are  good  but  they  are  committing  an  error  of  which  they  will  be 
convinced  when  it  shall  be  too  late.  Do  you  want  to  know  how 
it  will  work.  Look  back  to  1844.  Suppose  you  and  I  had  aban- 
doning Mr.  Clay  in  that  year  because  he  was  not  so  decidedly 
for  freedom  as  we  wTere,  and  had  cast  our  votes  for  James  G. 
Birney.*  Who  does  not  see  that  without  having  made  a  new 
party  capable  of  saving  the  country  from  the  extension  of  slavery 

This  portion,  as  well  as  the  entire  speech  was  received  at  the  time  with  unanimous 
and  hearty  demonstrations  of  concurrence. — Ed. 


WHIG  MASS  MEETING.  305 

in  this  crisis,  we  should  now  have  had  no  party  at  all  for  that 
purpose !  Fellow-citizens,  be  ye  not  deceived.  Be  ye  not  mis- 
led. There  can  be  in  this  country  only  two  parties.  The  whig 
party  is  one,  and  that  which  calls  itself  democratic  is  the  other. 
You  can  try  to  build  up  factions  into  third  parties,  but  to  this 
complexion  it  must  come  at  last :  two  parties,  two  parties  only. 
Then  for  you  who  regard  as  I  do  the  preservation  of  the  vital 
principle  of  freedom  always  as  of  paramount  importance  the 
question  is :  Is  the  whig  party  less  faithful  than  its  adversary  to 
liberty  and  humanity?  You  will  say,  "No."  All  men  say  no. 
Heaven  and  earth  bear  witness,  no  !  It  is  now  time  to  secure  those 
sacred  objects.  Well,  if  the  whig  party  fail  now,  then  the  other 
party  succeeds,  and  those  objects,  if  not  for  ever  lost,  are  left  in 
abeyance. 

But  some  will  say  that  distinguished  whigs  have  been  over- 
looked. Clay  and  Webster  have  been  put  aside.  It  was  either 
necessary  that  they  should  have  been  left  out,  or  it  was  not.  In 
either  case  I  regret  it,  and  do  not  stop  to  argue  where  the  truth 
in  that  respect  lies.  It  is  a  question  that  comes  up  now,  too  late. 
Statesmen  and  patriots  must  be  content  to  do  what  is  practical, 
what  can  be  done.  Besides  when  was  it  otherwise  ?  Was  Aris- 
tides,  was  Cato,  was  Cicero,  more  fortunate.  Is  it  not  by  popu- 
lar injustice  that  greatness  is  burnished?  What  is  the  presidency 
of  the  United  States  compared  with  the  fame  of  a  patriot  states- 
man who  triumphs  over  popular  injustice,  and  establishes  his 
country  on  the  sure  foundations  of  freedom  and  empire  ? 

Let  us  forget  then  all  personal  considerations.  Let  us  remem- 
ber that  it  is  our  country,  not  our  friends,  that  demands  our  sup- 
port ;  that  in  this  battle  are  involved  interests  as  wide  as  our  bor- 
ders and  lasting  as  humanity  itself. 

Vol.  III.— 20 


306  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 


NEW  YORK  AND  ERIE  RAILROAD. 

ELMIRA,    OCTOBER    17,    1837. 

To  the  People  of  the  State  of  New  York: 

It  will  be  remembered  that  an  association  was  formed  and  in- 
corporated in  the  year  1832  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  the 
New  York  and  Erie  railroad.  To  remove  doubts  which  were 
entertained  or  affected  touching  the  feasibility  of  the  road,  and 
which  no  surveys  made  under  the  direction  or  by  the  procure- 
ment of  those  immediately  interested  in  its  construction  could 
remove,  the  legislature  in  the  year  1834  directed  an  accurate 
examination  of  the  route  to  be  made  under  the  superintendence 
of  the  canal  commissioners.  The  surveys  thus  made  were  so 
eminently  satisfactory  as  to  dispel  from  the  public  mind  all  rea- 
sonable doubts  of  the  feasibility  of  the  improvement,  inspire  the 
association  with  renewed  confidence,  and  induce  a  large  subscrip- 
tion by  citizens  to  its  stock. 

The  legislature  being  thus  convinced  of  the  practicability  of 
the  enterprise,  and  justly  appreciating  its  importance,  in  the  year 
1836  authorized  a  loan  of  three  millions  of  dollars  to  the  com- 
pany, upon  certain  conditions,  then  deemed  adequate  to  insure  a 
speedy  and  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  road. 

Having  regard  to  the  magnitude  of  the  enterprise,  and  its  great 
public  purposes,  in  connection  with  the  condition  of  the  country 
through  which  the  road  is  to  pass,  it  was  of  course  thought  that  the 
association  should  look  for  its  subscriptions  of  stock  chiefly  to  the 
city  of  New  York,  not  merely  because  that  city  is  the  great  treas- 
ury of  capital,  but  also  because  it  is  deeply  interested  in  the  suc- 
cess of  the  improvement.  The  subscriptions  of  the  merchants 
and  capitalists  of  the  city,  amounting  to  two  millions,  three  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars,  were  considered  ample  to  enable  the  com- 

Note. — Address  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad  convention,  held  at  Elmira, 
October  17,  1837.  This  address  forms  an  interesting  portion  of  the  history  of  the 
gnat  enterprise  it  advocates. — Ed. 


NEW  YORK  AND  ERIE  RAILROAD.  30T 

pany  to  prosecute  the  work,  and  realize  the  appropriation  made 
by  the  legislature.  Accordingly,  a  board  of  engineers,  eminently 
skilful  and  of  the  highest  reputation,  was  organized.  The  entire 
route  was  resurveyed  in  1836 ;  the  terminations  on  the  Hudson 
and  Lake  Erie  were  established ;  a  part  of  the  road,  forty  miles 
in  length,  was  commenced,  and  every  measure  was  adopted  to 
prosecute  and  complete  the  whole  with  all  practicable  despatch. 

It  was  at  this  crisis  that  the  recent  unparalleled  commercial 
revulsion  overtook  the  enterprise.  The  liberal  subscribers  of  its 
stock  were  involved  in  embarrassments  resulting  from  the  great 
conflagration  in  the  city,  and  the  accumulated  evils  which  fol- 
lowed the  universal  derangement  of  the  currency  of  the  country. 
All  corporate  credit  was  prostrated,  and  all  confidence  in  indi- 
vidual responsibility  was  destroyed.  The  New  York  and  Erie 
Railroad  Company,  thus  finding  a  sudden  failure  of  all  its  re- 
sources, was  compelled  to  desist  from  its  operations. 

It  was  well  apprehended  that  the  duration  of  this  season  of 
pressure  and  alarm  must  be  brief  in  proportion  to  the  suddenness 
of  its  coming,  and  the  severity  and  suffering  it  inflicted.  The 
consternation  it  produced  has  already  passed  away  ;  and  although 
it  may  be  long  before  all  its  evils  shall  be  retrieved,  and  a  full 
measure  of  prosperity  be  restored  to  the  country,  confidence  is 
nevertheless  already  reviving ;  capital  is  struggling  to  regain  its 
accustomed  functions ;  and  the  enterprise  of  our  citizens  is  renew- 
ing its  irrepressible  energy. 

This  conjuncture  has  been  thought  suitable  for  the  resumption 
of  the  operations  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  Railroad  Company ; 
and  the  delegates  constituting  this  convention  have  assembled  to 
adopt  measures  auxiliary  to  that  purpose.  The  measures  adopted 
by  the  convention  contemplate  the  opening  of  the  books  of  the 
company  for  further  subscriptions  of  stock,  in  both  the  city  and 
the  country ;  an  application  to  the  legislature  to  modify  the  con- 
ditions of  the  appropriation  before  mentioned;  and  the  resuscita- 
tion of  a  just  public  confidence  in  the  ultimate  success  of  the 
system  of  internal  improvements  in  this  state.  These  measures 
call  for  extensive  action  in  the  city  of  New  York  and  in  the  south- 
western counties  especially,  and  generally  throughout  the  state, 
and  in  the  legislature ;  and  hence  the  propriety  of  this  appeal  to 
all  our  fellow-citizens. 

This  convention  is  not  ignorant  that  the  unexpected  check  the 


308  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

enterprise  has  sustained  has  revived,  in  some  measure,  the  confi- 
dence of  those  whom  local  interests  had  arrayed  against  it,  and 
given  temporary  effect  to  prejudices  and  objections  which,  it  was 
hoped,  were  at  rest  for  ever.  "We  therefore  respectfully  remind 
our  fellow-citizens  that  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad  is  not 
alone  involved  in  the  calamity  that  has  fallen  upon  our  country. 
Without  going  beyond  the  limits  of  our  own  state,  whose  credit 
and  resources  are  confessedly  superior  to  those  of  other  states,  to- 
survey  the  ruin  which  the  pressure  of  1837  has  produced — and 
without  descending  to  notice  the  thousand  instances  of  individual 
embarrassment  which  have  passed  before  us — it  is  sufficient  to- 
remark  that  the  same  cause  for  a  time  suspended  every  work  of 
improvement  in  which  the  state  itself  was  engaged,  and  has  either 
greatly  obstructed  or  altogether  arrested  every  enterprise  of  the 
same  character,  depending,  like  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad r 
upon  corporate  or  individual  credit.  Thus  it  will  be  remembered 
that  we  have  seen  the  time  when  the  stock  of  the  state,  bearing 
an  interest  of  five  per  cent.,  and  redeemable  at  a  distant  period,, 
found  no  purchasers ;  and  consequently  the  construction  of  the 
Genesee  canal,  and  the  Black  river  canal,  and  the  enlargement 
of  the  Erie  canal,  were  temporarily  suspended.  The  extensive 
system  of  internal  improvements  prosecuted  by  corporations  ex- 
hibits scarcely  an  instance  more  fortunate  than  the  New  York 
and  Erie  railroad.  The  Newburgh  and  Sussex  railroad,  after 
having  been  fully  commenced,  was  suddenly  suspended.  The 
Utica  and  Syracuse  railroad,  the  profitableness  of  which,  with 
the  ability  of  the  individuals  engaged  in  it,  was  supposed  to 
guaranty  its  construction  within  the  present  year,  remains,  as  is 
understood,  unattempted.  The  Auburn  and  Syracase  railroad, 
regarded  scarcely  less  valuable  as  an  investment,  although  more 
than  half  completed  at  the  commencement  of  the  year,  is  still 
struggling  with  embarrassments  which  indefinitely  retard  its  com- 
pletion. The  Auburn  and  Rochester  railroad  waits  a  more  pro- 
pitious season.  The  Tonawanda  railroad  has  been  completed 
only  after  long  delay,  and  under  circumstances  most  dishearten- 
ing. The  Batavia  and  Buffalo  railroad  is  without  an  organiza- 
tion. The  Utica  and  Oswego,  the  Syracuse  and  Binghamton, 
the  Saratoga  and  Whitehall  railroads,  the  Catskill  routes  to  the 
Susquehannah,  the  Auburn  and  Ithaca  railroads,  as  well  as  those 
of  the  Buffalo  and  Erie,  and  the  Albany  and  New  York  routes, 


NEW  YORK  AND  ERIE  RAILROAD.  309 

yet  remain  mere  records  on  the  statute-book.  These  failures  are 
mentioned  with  a  view  far  different  from  that  of  expressing  sat- 
isfaction in  them  on  the  part  of  this  convention.  The  contem- 
plated improvements  are  generally  conceded  to  be  feasible,  merito- 
rious, and  indispensable  to  the  prosperity  of  the  state ;  and  many 
of  them  were  undertaken  by  associations  which  enjoyed  resources 
and  credit  so  ample  as  to  have  been  deemed  sufficient  to  insure  their 
speedy  and  successful  completion.  They  are  here  referred  to  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  that,  so  far  as  the  suspension  of  the  New 
York  and  Erie  railroad  operates  to  produce  a  prejudice  against 
either  its  feasibility  or  usefulness,  these  confessedly  practicable  and 
popular  improvements  are  all  alike  obnoxious  to  the  same  judg- 
ment. If  they,  not  one  of  them  requiring  a  fifth  part  of  the  cap- 
ital required  for  the  construction  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  rail- 
road, traversing  as  they  do  more  populous  and  wealthy  districts, 
and  embracing  local  interests  of  that  power  in  addition  to  impor- 
tant public  purposes,  have  been  compelled  to  lie  low  beneath  the 
storm  that  has  passed  over  the  country,  how  could  it  have  been 
otherwise  than  that  this  more  extended  enterprise  should  submit 
to  the  same  necessity?  They,  however,  know  nothing  of  the 
mighty  energy  and  vast  resources  of  the  people  of  the  state  of 
New  York,  and  have  no  conception  of  the  destiny  of  that  people, 
who  can  doubt  that  all  those  improvements  will  within  a  short 
time  be  in  successful  operation.  The  fullness  of  faith  in  their 
accomplishment,  expressed  by  this  convention,  hazards  nothing 
more  than  its  confidence  that  the  people  of  this  state  are  adequate 
to  effect  in  the  work  of  internal  improvement,  within  a  prospec- 
tive period,  as  much  as  they  have,  with  more  limited  resources 
and  population,  performed  in  an  equal  period  that  has  passed. 
If,  then,  there  be  good  ground  to  believe  in  the  eventual  con- 
struction of  the  works  before  alluded  to,  it  is  obvious  that  that 
of  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad  is  equally  well  assured,  so  far 
as  the  question  is  in  any  way  affected  by  the  commercial  revul- 
sion of  1837,  or  the  consequent  suspension  of  the  enterprise. 
This  improvement,  then,  so  far  as  its  feasibility  and  the  advan- 
tages to  be  derived  from  it  are  concerned,  maintains  exactly  the 
same  position  it  held  in  the  month  of  March  last,  when  in  the 
enjoyment  of  a  full  measure  of  the  confidence  of  capitalists,  of  the 
legislature,  and  of  the  people  of  this  state,  it  seemed,  in  all  human 
.appearance,  to  be  proceeding  toward  a  speedy  consummation. 


310  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

We  are  well  aware  that  we  might  in  all  fairness  rest  upon  this 
ground  in  submitting  our  appeal  to  the  public,  and  might  assume 
that  neither  the  legislature  nor  the  people  would  require  renewed 
demonstration  where  full  conviction  had  been  solemnly  acknowl- 
edged. But  we  are  so  well  convinced  of  the  impregnability  of 
the  broad  ground  heretofore  and  always  assumed  by  the  advo- 
cates of  the  improvement,  that  we  will  not  disappoint  the  expec- 
tation, however  unreasonable,  which  may  require  that  ground  to 
be  illustrated  on  the  present  occasion. 

Were  it  possible  to  find  the  judgment  of  our  fellow-citizens 
biased  by  no  objections  except  such  as  might  arise  out  of  a  just 
and  careful  regard  to  the  feasibility  of  the  improvement,  or  its 
relation  to  general  or  even  important  local  interests,  it  would  not 
be  difficult  to  secure  for  it  the  favorable  consideration  of  every 
citizen  of  the  state.  But  it  has  been  the  lot  of  the  New  York 
and  Erie  railroad,  as  it  has  been  that  of  every  similar  enterprise^ 
however  ultimately  successful,  to  encounter  prejudices  of  a  less 
generous  character,  arising  from  the  contracted  and  selfish  view 
entertained  by  some,  which  regards  every  improvement  that  may 
by  possibility  be  productive  of  benefit  to  a  distant  region  of  the- 
state  as  inconsistent  with  the  welfare  of  that  which  is  honored  by 
their  own  residence  and  protected  by  their  own  jealous  care. 
There  is  only  one  merit  belonging  to  this  miserable  jealousy, 
which  is,  that  it  is  always  accompanied  by  an  humbling  convic- 
tion that  it  is  too  unworthy  a  motive  to  be  avowed.  But  from 
this  very  conviction  results  the  difficulty  of  reaching  and  remo- 
ving the  motive.  Those  who  indulge  this  jealousy  secretly  al- 
ways urge  the  more  loudly  objections  which,  in  both  form  and 
substance,  might  justly  arise  from  more  enlarged  views  and  more 
worthy  motives.  The  objections  of  such  have  always  the  same 
order  of  succession,  beginning  with  that  argument  which,  if  well 
taken,  would  be  most  conclusive  —  that  is,  the  alleged  impracti- 
cability of  the  enterprise. 

The  feasibility  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad!,  with  the 
capital  before  mentioned,  has  been  fully  demonstrated  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  all  honest  minds  by  the  surveys  before  alluded  to,  and 
by  the  actual  construction  of  a  portion  of  the  work  within  the 
estimates.  We  therefore  will  not  stop  to  argue  this  point.  Tliose 
who  have  not  thus  been  convinced  must  be  left  to  share  the  un- 
enviable notoriety  of  a  worthy  citizen  formerly  living  on  the- 


NEW  YORK  AND  ERIE  RAILROAD.  311 

border  of  the  Erie  canal,  who  remained  perversely  incredulous 
of  the  feasibility  of  that  great  enterprise,  until  roused  from  his 
skepticism  by  the  peals  of  artillery  which  announced  the  passage 
of  the  first  boat  from  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  to  the  bosom  of 
the  Hudson. 

Next  in  order  to  the  skepticism  already  noticed  is  the  preju- 
dice that  can  conceive  no  adequate  return  for  the  expenditure 
required  for  any  work  of  internal  improvement.  As  this  is  an 
objection  that  can  have  no  mathematical  refutation  until  the  enter- 
prise has  been  fully  accomplished,  and  generally  until  after  some 
lapse  of  time  beyond  that  consummation,  it  has  been  most  perti- 
naciously insisted  upon  in  relation  to  the  improvement  in  ques- 
tion. The  view  entertained  by  the  convention  on  this  point  will 
be  seen  in  the  sequel.  At  present  it  may  be  well  to  say  that  the 
New  York  and  Erie  railroad  is  not  alone  in  encountering  this 
objection.  It  is  within  the  memory  of  most  men  of  this  genera- 
tion, that,  during  the  entire  period  of  the  construction  of  the 
Erie  and  Champlain  canals,  it  was  an  anxious  question  whether 
the  state  would  ever  be  able  to  discharge  the  debt  incurred  for 
that  purpose.  Those  whose  recollection  does  not  embrace  the 
fact,  will  find  most  solemn  proof  of  it  in  a  mortgage  imposed  by 
the  state  upon  all  the  counties  through  which  those  canals  pass, 
and  still  standing  in  full  force  in  the  statute-book,  in  glaring  in- 
consistency with  the  laws  appropriating  to  many  other  purposes 
the  surplus  revenues  of  the  same  canals.  It  is  not,  however,  to 
be  expected  that  general  conviction  will  take  place  in  the  public 
mind  on  this  subject.  All  experience,  on  the  contrary,  has  proved 
that  none  but  enlarged  minds,  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  this  ren- 
ovated age,  can  anticipate,  even  indistinctly,  the  results  of  simi- 
lar improvements.  Fortunately,  there  is  in  this  state  a  predomi- 
nating influence  of  such  minds ;  and  to  that  influence  the  state  is 
indebted  for  all  the  improvements  already  made,  and  which  have 
filled  her  borders  with  plenty  and  covered  her  name  with  honor. 
To  such  minds  we  submit,  with  entire  confidence,  a  view  of  the 
purposes  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad,  and  the  arguments 
in  its  support.  This  improvement,  like  the  Erie  canal  and  the 
great  chain  of  railroads  in  process  of  construction  from  Albany 
to  Buffalo,  has  two  important  objects :  first,  to  open  a  convenient 
and  speedy  communication  between  our  commercial  capital  and 
an  extensive  and  fertile  agricultural  region  of  our  own  state,  des- 


312  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

tit ute  of  such  facilities ;  secondly,  that  of  creating  a  thoroughfare 
for  the  trade  and  commerce  which  may  be  carried  on  between 
the  same  capital  and  the  western  states. 

We  advert  to  these  objects  in  their  order.  He  who  doubts  the 
importance  of  the  improvement,  in  its  relation  to  the  city  of  New 
York,  or  to  the  counties  represented  in  this  convention,  must  have 
a  very  inadequate  conception  of  the  resources  of  one  or  the  other, 
or  both  of  those  parts  of  the  state.  It  is  impossible  to  estimate 
the  wealth  and  power  which  the  city  of  New  York  is  destined  to 
attain,  if  her  natural  advantages  be  improved.  We  know  that 
hitherto  all  forecast  has  been  outstripped  by  the  rapidity  of  its 
improvement.  If  there  are  in  this  community  any  who  deem  all 
that  accession  of  the  wealth  and  commerce  of  the  city,  which 
they  have  witnessed,  to  have  been  foreseen,  to  such  we  present 
the  fact  that  it  was  a  question  most  gravely  discussed  in  that  city, 
in  the  year  1790,  whether  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  town 
could  survive  the  removal  of  the  federal  capitol  from  New  York 
to  Philadelphia.  Notwithstanding,  however,  that  the  commer- 
cial capital  of  our  state  has  made  such  gigantic  strides  as  to  have 
outstripped  prophecy,  it  has  as  yet  embraced  the  commerce  of 
only  a  small  part  of  the  territory  which  Nature  seems  to  have 
destined  to  yield  it  tribute.  When  it  is  remembered  that  (inclu- 
ding Brooklyn)  the  city  of  New  York  numbers  a  population  of 
three  hundred  thousand,  and  is  already  ranked  among  the  chief 
commercial  cities  of  the  world  —  and  that  all  this  development 
has  been  made  within  two  centuries  after  the  colonization  of  this 
continent,  while  scarcely  more  than  a  belt  of  the  Atlantic  coast 
Las  been  reclaimed  from  its  forest  state  —  who  can  estimate  the 
magnitude  of  her  commerce  when  she  shall  have  come  to  be  the 
recipient  of  the  productions  of  the  region  which  stretches  from 
the  western  boundaries  of  our  state  to  the  sources  of  the  great 
inland  seas?  To  the  ardent  and  philanthropic  mind  of  him  who 
delights  in  contemplating  the  relation  between  himself  and  a  fu- 
ture age,  between  his  own  humble  action  and  the  destiny  of  his 
country,  it  is  a  pleasing  reflection  that  we  of  this  generation  see 
only  the  nucleus  of  the  great  capital  which  is  to  establish  the 
commercial  balance  between  the  New  World  and  the  Old,  as  we 
see  only  the  shadowed  outlines  of  the  great  western  republic 
which  is  to  be  the  antagonist  of  the  corrupting  and  enslaving 
system  of  the  eastern  continent. 


NEW  YORK  AND  ERIE  RAILROAD.  313 

Directing  our  attention  now  to  the  region  to  be  traversed  by 
the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad,  we  find  a  territory  constituting 
twelve  entire  counties,  and  embracing  portions  of  several  others, 
equal  to  one  fifth  of  the  entire  area  of  the  state,  and  sustaining 
.about  one  sixth  of  its  population.  Is  it,  we  respectfully  inquire, 
nothing,  and  is  it  to  be  nothing  to  the  city  of  New  York,  whether 
this  region,  as  fertile  as  any  other,  shall  be  admitted  to  an  equal 
participation  in  her  markets,  or  whether  its  productions  shall  con- 
tinue to  be  subjected  to  the  existing  oppressive  tax  of  expense 
and  delay  of  transportation  ?  Is  it  nothing  to  the  city  of  New 
York  whether  these  hills  and  valleys,  stretching  from  near  the 
eastern  border  of  the  state  to  its  western  limit,  shall  be  made 
fully  and  abundantly  productive,  or  whether  they  shall  be  thrift- 
lessly cultivated  by  inhabitants  less  engaged  in  that  pursuit  than 
in  seeking  means  of  escape  from  their  ill-chosen  homes  to  more 
favored  regions  ?  Is  it  nothing  to  the  city  of  New  York  whether 
the  productions  of  this  territory  shall  be  poured  undivided  into 
her  storehouses,  or  whether  the  producers  shall  continue  to  seek, 
as  they  now  do,  and  as  "time  and  chance  may  determine"  them, 
the  precarious  channels  of  the  southern  rivers  to  more  distant  yet 
more  accessible  markets  in  other  states?  If  the  cheapness  of  her 
supplies,  if  the  increase  of  her  trade,  if  the  augmentation  of  her 
wealth,  if  the  fortification  of  her  commercial  position  consequent 
upon  this  enterprise,  be  nothing  to  New  York,  or  be  unworthy 
her  solicitude  or  regard,  then  let  her  understand,  and  seasonably 
understand,  too,  that  the  commerce  of  these  southwestern  coun- 
ties is  not  so  lightly  valued  by  her  sister-cities  and  our  sister- 
states.  The  cities  of  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati,  Philadelphia,  and 
Baltimore,  and  the  states  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Maryland, 
have  not  yet  acquired  that  redundance  of  prosperity  which  can 
induce  them  to  a  like  indifference.  They  are  laboring  with  vigi- 
lance unsleeping  and  industry  unwearied  to  secure  the  trade  New 
York  seems  to  value  so  lightly.  The  prize  is  abundant  to  reward 
all  their  efforts.  It  must  be  remembered,  too,  that  this  is  a  utili- 
tarian age.  Natural  advantages'  of  position  are  to  states  what 
natural  endowments  or  fortuitous  circumstances  of  birth  are  to 
individuals.  The  time  has  long  gone  by  when  either  could  se- 
cure their  possessor  against  the  ascendency  of  less  fortunate  but 
more  diligent  competitors.  Natural  advantages  must  be  im- 
proved, or  they  are  worthless.     There  is  no  destiny  which  has 


314  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

decreed  to  New  York  even  the  eminence  she  has  already  attained. 
Her  own  experience  shows  that,  so  far  from  its  being  hers  from 
inflexible  necessity,  she  owes  it  in  a  great  degree  to  the  canals 
and  other  improvements  which  have  been  already  constructed. 
But  the  spirit  of  improvement  which  had  its  birth  among  us 
seems  now  to  be  animating  to  greater  achievement  our  sister- 
states  ;  and  New  York  seems  quite  unaware  that,  while  she  com- 
placently enjoys  the  success  of  our  past  and  partial  efforts,  Penn- 
sylvania is  completing  a  gigantic  system  of  improvement,  de- 
signed and  well  adapted,  too,  to  concentrate  at  Philadelphia  the 
commerce  of  the  west. 

The  relation  between  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad  and  the 
state  is  apparent  from  its  objects  before  stated.  Regarded  merely 
in  the  view  in  which  it  has  thus  far  been  presented,  its  importance 
justifies  the  munificent  provision  which  has  been  made  in  its  be- 
half by  the  legislature,  and  imperiously  demands  that  that  mu- 
nificence should  now  be  rendered  available.  It  surely  can  not 
have  occurred  to  those  who  are  skeptical  on  the  subject,  that  the 
legislature  have,  by  the  improvements  they  have  caused  to  be 
made,  extended  to  the  states  of  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana,  and 
Illinois,  and  the  territory  of  Wisconsin,  and  to  our  Canadian 
neighbors,  facilities  of  access  to  our  commercial  capital  far 
greater  than  those  enjoyed  by  our  own  citizens  residing  in  the 
southern  counties ;  and  that  the  state  has  thus  been  engaged 
several  years  in  sending  onward  to  the  far  west,  and  to  another 
and  alien  country,  a  tide  of  immigration  which  might  have  been 
made  first  to  flow  over  and  improve  one  fifth  part  of  our  own 
territory  which  has  been  altogether  neglected.  But  the  conven- 
tion can  not  forget  that,  in  regard  to  the  interest  of  the  state  in 
this  enterprise,  it  holds  common  ground  with  the  friends  of  inter- 
nal improvement  everywhere.  The  wealth  of  a  state  or  nation 
most  certainly  does  not  consist  in  the  amount  of  dollars  and  cents 
it  may  have  in  deposites  or  in  vaults.  Such  wealth  seldom  sub- 
serves any  other  purpose  than  to  tempt  the  cupidity  of  public 
servants,  or  the  rapacity  of  speculators  upon  the  virtue  of  the 
legislature.  True  national  wealth  consists  in  the  resources  and 
ability  of  the  people  to  bear  taxation,  whenever  it  is  required  for 
great  objects  of  public  good.  To  develop  these  resources,  and 
increase  that  ability,  by  every  feasible  improvement  which  can 
be  effected  by  an  expense  having  a  reasonable  proportion  to  the 


NEW  YORK  AND  ERIE  RAILROAD.  315 

result  to  be  attained,  is  one  of  the  chief  responsibilities  of  our 
government.  To  draw  upon  the  great  fund  when  thus  created 
or  augmented,  only  so  far  and  so  fast  as  may  be  necessary  in 
order  to  conduct  public  affairs  wisely,  administer  the  laws  equal- 
ly, and  improve  the  moral  and  intellectual  condition  of  the  peo- 
ple, seems  to  involve  all  that  remains  of  financial  duty  on  the 
part  of  the  government.  If  he  who  causes  one  blade  of  grass  to 
grow  where  none  grew  before,  is,  as  has  been  well  said,  a  greater 
benefactor  of  his  race  than  all  the  conquerors  who  ever  lived, 
what  measure  of  gratitude  would  not  be  due  to  the  legislature 
which  should  carry  these  principles  into  action,  instead  of  seek- 
ing on  all  occasions  to  divest  themselves  of  all  responsibility  on 
the  subject  of  internal  improvement? 

The  estimated  expense  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad  i& 
six  millions  of  dollars.  We  confidently  submit  that,  without  ref- 
erence to  the  more  general  object  of  the  improvement,  a  propo- 
sition that  the  state  should  assume  the  entire  expense,  instead  of 
devolving  so  important  a  public  enterprise  upon  individuals  or 
corporate  capitalists,  would  be  maintainable  upon  the  principles 
above  put  forth.  The  territory  to  be  affected  by  this  improve- 
ment (independent  of  the  part  of  Pennsylvania  adjacent)  is  forty 
miles  in  width  and  three  hundred  miles  in  length,  a  region  more' 
extensive  than  that  respectively  embraced  in  several  states  of  the 
Union.  The  issue  which  such  a  proposition  would  involve  would' 
be,  whether  it  is  expedient  to  continue  the  depression  of  this 
region  and  its  seclusion  from  our  markets,  and  to  force  its  pro- 
ductions through  other  channels  to  other  states;  or  whether  it  be- 
more  wise  to  bring  this  territory  into  the  flourishing  condition 
of  Dutchess  and  Orange,  of  Oneida,  Madison,  Onondaga,  Cayuga, 
Seneca,  and  Ontario,  and  the  Genesee  county,  and  secure  all  its 
accumulated  productions,  as  well  as  those  of  the  northern  coun- 
ties of  Pennsylvania,  to  the  commerce  of  our  own  city. 

It  would  be  unfair  to  withhold  longer  from  the  argument  of 
this  address  the  more  important  object  of  the  New  York  and  Erie 
railroad  —  viz.,  that  of  a  thoroughfare  for  the  commerce  between 
the  city  of  New  York  and  the  far  west.  It  would  be  an  act  of 
supererogation  to  illustrate  on  this  occasion  the  growing,  the  ab- 
sorbing importance  of  that  commerce.  Now  that  it  has  become 
the  prize  for  the  rivalry  of  the  Atlantic  states  and  of  the  Canadas, 
and  more  especially  when  we  are  already  enjoying  a  rapidly- 


316  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

swelling  revenue  from  it,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  its  importance 
is  universally  acknowledged,  though  it  can  not  be  fully  appre- 
ciated. 

The  competition  which  we  have  most  to  fear  is  that  of  our 
southern  neighbors.  It  is  known,  although  it  seems  to  have  made 
slight  impression  upon  our  statesmen,  that  Pennsylvania  has  pro- 
jected and  has  been  carrying  forward  a  system  of  improvements 
designed  to  intercept  the  productions  and  the  travel  on  Lake  Erie, 
and  carry  them  directly  through  her  own  territory  to  the  city  of 
Philadelphia.  Unless  the  people  of  the  west  are  so  perversely 
attached  to  our  own  state  and  our  capital,  that  they  will  travel 
on  common  roads,  in  ordinary  vehicles,  a  greater  distance,  and 
at  a  greater  expense,  to  yield  us  the  boon  of  their  favor,  it  is  cer- 
tain that  they  will  avail  themselves  of  the  Pennsylvania  route 
and  the  Philadelphia  market.  Even  if  our  chain  of  railroads 
through  the  northern  counties  were  completed,  and  our  canal 
enlarged,  we  should  not  then  be  secure  against  the  diversion  of 
this  commerce.  Every  year  the  merchandise  of  Philadelphia 
reaches  its  destination  in  the  west,  and  the  productions  of  the 
west  attain  their  southern  markets,  before  the  waters  of  the  Hud- 
eon  at  Albany,  or  those  of  the  Erie  canal,  or  those  of  Lake  Erie 
at  Buffalo,  are  released  from  their  icy  fetters.  During  the  entire 
winter,  and  an  important  portion  of  the  spring,  the  whole  of  this 
commerce  upon  the  only  thoroughfare  we  now  have,  is  suspend- 
ed, and  the  travelling  part  of  the  community  encounter  obstacles 
which  compel  them  to  seek  more  southern  routes.  All  these 
inconveniences  and  obstacles  it  is  the  object  of  the  New  York 
and  Erie  railroad  to  remove.  Nor  can  they,  in  our  opinion,  be 
removed  by  any  other  thoroughfare.  For  if  the  route  be  ren- 
dered practicable  from  Buffalo  to  Albany,  there  will  still  remain 
the  interruptions  between  Dunkirk  and  Buffalo,  and  between 
Albany  and  New  York.  To  whatever  extent  the  obstructions 
which  have  been  mentioned  operate,  to  that  extent  they  are  an 
unanswerable  argument  for  the  construction  of  the  New  York 
and  Erie  railroad.  If  we  were  to  admit  that  the  removal  of  these 
difficulties  is  the  only  good  to  be  accomplished  by  the  enterprise, 
and  that  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad  would,  on  the  opening 
of  the  spring,  resign  all  its  occupation  to  other  thoroughfares,  and 
resume  it  again  only  in  the  autumn,  wThen  those  thoroughfares 
should  be  compelled  to  relinquish  it,  its  uses  would  still  be  inval- 


NEW  YORK  AND  ERIE  RAILROAD.  31 7 

uable  in  securing  and  retaining  this  commerce.  It  ought  to  be 
well  remembered  that  the  people  engaged  in  this  commerce  will 
not  seek  New  York  in  the  summer  and  other  markets  in  the  win- 
ter, but  that  their  connections  will  become  settled  and  their  rela- 
tions unchangeable.  They  will  seek  New  York,  if  at  all,  not 
from  any  partiality  overcoming  reasonable  preferences  elsewhere,, 
but  because  she  will  offer  the  best  market  in  which  to  buy  and 
to  sell,  and  will  be  most  accessible  in  summer  and  in  winter,  in 
spring  and  in  autumn.  When  the  commerce  of  the  west  shall 
have  attained  this  settled  system,  it  will  doubtless  seek  its  facili- 
ties in  the  various  thoroughfares  of  our  state,  as  circumstances 
and  the  seasons  may  modify  the  case :  a  part  choosing,  under 
some  circumstances,  the  Oswego  canal  and  the  passage  around 
the  cataract ;  another,  and  under  other  circumstances,  the  long 
traverse  of  the  Erie-canal  route  and  the  Buffalo  harbor,  with  its 
commanding  advantages  for  lake  commerce ;  and  another,  under 
still  different  circumstances,  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad, 
with  its  continuity  of  locomotion  by  steam-power.  Nor  need  it 
be  doubted  that  the  employment  will  be  ample  for  all.  If,  after 
only  twelve  years'  experience  of  the  Erie  canal,  it  has  been  found 
necessary  to  double  its  capacity,  it  is  rather  to  be  feared  that  all 
the  thoroughfares  now  projected  will  be  found  insufficient  for  the 
purpose.  In  this  view  of  the  case,  it  will  be  seen  how  unjust  and 
unwise  are  the  prejudices  of  those  who  apprehend  from  the  con- 
struction of  this  railroad  injury  to  the  revenues  of  the  Erie  canal, 
or  a  competition  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  chain  of  railroads 
through  the  northern  counties.  If  such  apprehensions  were  in- 
deed just,  we  can  not  subscribe  to  the  principle  that  it  is  a  proper 
exercise  of  the  sovereign  power  of  a  state  to  construct  canals  or 
railroads,  and  insist  upon  their  being  employed  by  the  people,  in 
preference  to  better  or  cheaper  thoroughfares  made  by  individual 
enterprise.  Nor  can  we  more  readily  acknowledge  any  superior 
claims  or  advantages  which  a  more  northern  railroad  route  has  to 
exclusive-  favor  of  patronage. 

"We  might  safely  pursue  this  subject,  and  demonstrate  the  ad- 
vantages which  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad  will  enjoy  for  a 
fair  participation,  in  all  seasons  and  under  all  circumstances,  in 
the  great  business  of  transportation  between  the  east  and  the 
west.  But  it  would  seem  invidious;  and  we  with  far  greater 
satisfaction  take  this  occasion  to  declare  that,  against  the  other 


SI 8  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

improvements  before  mentioned,  and  every  other  which  may  be 
projected,  we  entertain  no  hostility  or  prejudice.  The  usefulness 
and  importance  of  most  if  not  all  of  these  works  we  fully  admit 
and  most  cheerfully  acknowledge.  So  far  from  wishing  to  arrest 
or  retard  their  progress,  we  would  render  them  all  the  aid  in  our 
power,  and  we  congratulate  our  fellow-citizens  residing  within 
the  influence  of  those  improvements  upon  the  prospect  of  the  rich 
and  manifold  advantages  sure  to  result  from  them.  Regarding 
those  enterprises  as  necessary  parts  of  one  grand  system  of  inter- 
nal improvement  fortunately  commenced,  and  thus  far  wisely 
prosecuted,  but  yet  requiring  extended  and  enlarged  action  to 
bring  it  to  the  perfection  which  the  interests  and  prospects  of  the 
state  require,  we  in  like  manner  commend  to  their  enlightened 
and  liberal  advocates,  the  ISTew  York  and  Erie  railroad  —  not  as  a 
hostile  or  rival  enterprise,  but  as  an  auxiliary,  like  their  own, 
important  and  indispensable  to  the  whole  system. 

When  we  look  abroad  through  our  country,  and  regard  the 
improvements  already  completed,  and  the  struggling  efforts 
which  are  put  forth  by  intelligent  and  patriotic  men,  with  little 
of  popular  support  or  sympathy,  in  favor  of  others  —  and  when 
we  mark  how  surely  and  how  speedily  increased  wealth  and  pros- 
perity, and  moral,  social,  and  intellectual  refinement,  have  fol- 
lowed the  accomplishment  of  every  enterprise  which  has  been 
consummated  —  it  seems  passing  strange  that  every  advance  of 
the  system  should  have  been  contested  against  the  incredulity  of 
the  people,  and  with  a  consent  wrung  from  a  hesitating  and  re- 
luctant government.  Hitherto  the  merit  of  the  founders  and 
advocates  of  the  system  has  been  enhanced  more  by  their  tri- 
umphs over  popular  prejudice  and  legislative  repugnance  than 
their  forecast  of  the  rich  blessings  they  called  down  upon  their 
country.  We  will  not  question  either  the  necessity  or  the  wis- 
dom of  the  decision  by  which  the  great  system  of  internal  im- 
provement has,  with  the  apparent  consent  of  the  people,  been 
rejected  from  among  the  responsibilities  of  the  general  govern- 
ment, interested  as  that  government  is  to  secure  the  union  of  the 
states,  and  enriched  as  it  is  with  the  entire  national  domain  and 
the  exhaustless  resources  of  the  commerce  which  owes  its  pros- 
perity to  that  very  system.  But  it  is  manifestly  our  right,  as  it 
is  our  duty,  to  carry  forward  the  system  with  such  agency  and 
under  such  patronage  and  sanction  as  the  popular  will  recognises 


NEW  YORK  AND  ERIE  RAILROAD  319 

as  legitimate  for  that  purpose.  It  seems  now  to  be  settled  that 
the  agency  consists  in  the  combination  of  individual  effort,  under 
the  sanction  and  patronage  of  the  state  government.  To  every 
region  of  our  state  the  legislature  owes  a  paternal  care  in  this 
respect ;  and  its  obligations  are  only  limited  by  the  condition  of 
its  resources,  and  the  question  whether  such  improvements  as  are 
contemplated  will  advance  the  public  weal.  We  must  expect  to 
encounter  local  prejudices  ;  but  these,  when  disclosed,  are  seldom 
able  to  defeat  a  meritorious  enterprise.  We  must  be  prepared, 
by  generous  and  lofty  motives,  and  patriotic  and  expanded  views, 
to  overcome  the  more  formidable  opposition  which  arises  from 
an  honest  but  often  unwise  application  of  republican  economy. 

It  is  well  to  remember  that  the  experience  of  human  govern- 
ment affords  not  a  solitary  instance  in  which  a  state  or  nation 
became  impoverished  or  subjected  to  an  irredeemable  debt  by 
works  of  internal  improvement.  Ambition,  revenge,  and  lust 
for  extended  territory,  have  been  the  only  causes,  and  war  almost 
the  sole  agent  in  entailing  those  calamities  upon  nations.  Pal- 
aces and  pyramids,  the  luxurious  dwellings  of  living  tyrants,  and 
the  receptacles  of  their  worthless  ashes  when  dead,  have  in  every 
country  but  our  own  cost  more  than  all  its  canals  and  roads. 
Ancient  Egypt  and  ancient  Kome,  modern  Netherlands,  England, 
and  France,  and  even  our  own  peace-loving  country  (and  these 
include  the  lands  where  art  has  expended  the  greatest  effort  in 
internal  improvement),  have  severally  disbursed  more  in  a  single 
war  than  was  required  to  complete  a  system  of  improvements  suffi- 
cient to  perfect  their  union,  wealth,  and  power,  and  enable  them 
to  defy  invasion  or  aggression.  Internal  improvement,  then,  is 
the  antagonist  cause  of  national  luxury  and  of  war.  It  commands 
the  support  of  those  who  would  benevolently  advance  the  greatest 
happiness  of  the  greatest  number,  as  well  as  the  efforts  of  those 
who  would  increase  the  national  power,  elevate  the  national  glory, 
and  extend  the  sway  of  public  virtue.  A  cause  so  catholic,  so 
enlightened,  so  benevolent,  may  well  engage  the  exertions  of  all 
good,  wise,  and  patriotic  citizens.  It  may  often  encounter  hin- 
drances, not  only  in  the  fluctuations  of  commerce,  but  from  the 
drooping  of  popular  feeling,  and  the  diversity  of  local  interests. 
But  it  may  be  maintained  by  the  exercise  of  that  perseverance 
which  alone  crowns  with  success  the  agency  of  human  powers, 
and  is  itself  little  less  than  a  positive  virtue. 


320  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

To  all  who  are  thus  disposed  to  prosecute  the  system,  this  con- 
vention tenders  its  zealous  and  faithful  co-operation.  The  cloud 
that  hangs  over  our  country  is  already  breaking  away.  No  ca- 
lamity can  long  counteract  its  energies,  or  permanently  affect  its 
prosperity.  The  revival  of  confidence  is  at  hand.  Its  vivifying 
influence  will  not  be  confined  to  one  enterprise  or  one  section  of 
the  state,  but  it  will  pervade  the  country.  The  New  York  and 
Erie  railroad  will  then  have,  subject  to  its  call,  resources  abun- 
dant for  its  completion.  The  great  and  absorbing  interests  it 
involves  will  unlock  capital  adequate  to  its  wants.  The  energies 
of  the  association  who  have  assumed  its  construction  are  unim- 
paired, and  their  confidence  is  unshaken.  The  work  will  proceed, 
but  it  ought  not  and  must  not  proceed  alone.  The  occasion  is 
auspicious  to  the  revival  of  the  whole  system,  and  to  its  prosecu- 
tion— not  with  partial  support  and  convulsive  effort,  but  with 
the  combined  wealth  and  united  energies  of  the  whole  people. 


ERIE  RAILROAD  JUBILEE.  34Jl 


EK1E   EAILKOAD   JUBILEE. 

DUNKIRK,   MAY    15,    1851. 

It  becomes  me  to  be  silent  when  distinguished  orators  and 
statesmen  of  other  states  are  here,  ready  and  willing  to  mingle 
their  congratulations  with  your  own  fervent  rejoicings  over  the 
la6t  year's  achievement  of  New  York.  My  coming  among  you 
is  only  the  return  of  one  of  yourselves  —  one  whom  long  ago  you 
adopted  as  a  citizen  of  your  county  with  kindness  which  he  can 
never  forget.  Cherishing  as  I  do  always  that  ancient  remem- 
brance, I  enjoy  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures  of  my  life  in  coming 
to  you  at  last  with  the  long-promised,  the  long-desired,  long- 
looked-for  railroad,  which,  without  detaching  you  from  Ohio  and 
from  Pennsylvania,  unites  Chautauque,  together  with  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Ohio,  to  the  state  of  New  York. 

To  many  of  those  who  rejoice  with  us  to-day,  the  New  York 
and  Erie  railroad  is  a  work  which  presents  itself  with  all  the  at- 
traction of  novelty  as  well  as  of  grandeur.  It  is  not  so  with  us. 
It  is  the  triumph,  the  tardy  triumph  of  justice,  delayed  through- 
the  lifetime  of  a  generation.  There  are  wrecks  spread  all  around 
me  of  the  fortunes  ruined  by  long  delays  and  renewed  suspen- 
sions of  this  great  enterprise.  Only  eight  years  ago  this  achieve- 
ment was  regarded  by  the  state  as  a  visionary  but  ruinous  chi- 
mera— and  the  state  compromised  by  giving  up  its  claim  of  three 
millions  to  get  rid  of  further  hazard  and  losses  by  it. 

When  will  the  people  of  the  state  of  New  York  learn  to  know 
and  comprehend  their  own  strength  and  their  own  resources  ? 
The  New  York  and  Erie  railroad,  which  ought  to  have  been  buiit 
for  eight  or  ten  millions,  has  been  made,  by  delays  and  consequent 
charges  and  loss  of  interest,  to  cost  twenty  millions !     The  Erie- 

Note. — Remarks  at  the  celebration  of  the  completion  of  the  New  York  and  Erie 
railroad.  Among  the  distinguished  gentlemen  from  other  states  who  participated  ii> 
this  celebration  were  Daniel  Webster,  secretary  of  state,  and  John  J.  Crittendkn 
attorn  ey-ge  n  eral. 

Yol.  III.— 21 


822  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

canal  enlargement,  which  ought  to  have  been  constructed  for 
about  the  latter  sum,  is  prosecuted  with  timidity  and  even  dis- 
trust, increasing  its  cost  twofold,  and  postponing  its  benefits  till 
those  who  must  pay  for  it  shall  have  gone  down  to  their  graves. 

Even  now  they  tell  us  New  York  must  hold  in  her  breath,  and 
forbear  from  speaking  aloud  for  truth  and  justice,  for  fear  of  losing 
her  trade  and  commerce.  Her  trade  and  commerce  came  to  her, 
by  no  suppression  of  her  principles  and  her  sentiments,  but 
were  drawn  to  her  by  her  Atlantic  position,  and  by  her  rivers, 
and  her  canals  and  railroads.  They  came  not  from  favor,  but  be- 
cause she  of  all  others  could  pay  most  for  what  others  had  to  sell, 
and  could  sell  cheaper  what  others  wished  to  buy.  Her  trade 
and  commerce  are  held  now  on  this  tenure  and  condition,  and  in 
that  lies  the  secret  of  the  commercial  supremacy  of  New  York. 

What  is  that  secret?  Statesmen  and  citizens  of  other  states, 
here  it  is  !  Here  is  Lake  Erie.  Stretching  away  for  thousands 
of  miles  to  the  west  lies  the  continent.  Then  almost  at  your  feet 
is  the  Atlantic,  the  key  of  that  continent.  Far  away  in  the  east 
is  the  Old  World,  famishing  for  the  supplies  which  that  new  coun- 
try can  supply.  Here  on  the  lakes  which  receive  these  supplies, 
and  bear  them  in  sloops,  schooners,  brigs,  ships,  and  steam- ves- 
sels, and  deposite  them  here  on  this  isthmus,  some  three  or  four 
hundred  miles  wide,  over  which  or  through  which  they  must  be 
carried  to  the  banks  of  the  Atlantic  coast,  where  other  sloops, 
schooners,  brigs,  ships,  and  steamships,  are  waiting  to  waft  them 
to  Liverpool  and  London,  and  bring  back  the  compensation  to 
the  cultivator.  ,  New  York  has  only  to  cut  a  canal  across  this 
narrow  isthmus,  which  is  almost  one  continuous  plain  —  a  channel 
broad  enough  and  deep  enough  to  carry  across  the  freight  of  the 
west  which  is  to  be  transported  to  the  east.  A  channel  how 
large?  Manifestly  a  ship-canal,  because  the  commerce  on  the 
lakes  and  on  the  sea  employs  fleets,  and  nothing  less  than  ship- 
channels  from  Lake  Erie  and  Lake  Ontario  would  be  adequate. 

The  Erie  canal,  the  Central  railroad,  the  Northern  railroad,  and 
last,  but  by  no  means  least,  this  great  Southern  railroad,  all  to- 
gether contribute  to  that  one  great  channel  which  New  York  has 
opened  across  the  isthmus,  enlarging  it  continually  with  the  grow- 
ing exactions  of  commerce,  adopting  at  the  same  time  the  im- 
provements suggested  by  art. 

This  command  of  the  commerce  of  this  continent  is  the  dowry 


ERIE  RAIXROAD  JUBILEE  323 

of  New  York.  All  our  merchants  who  were  merchants  have  al- 
ways understood  it ;  all  our  statesmen  who  were  statesmen  have 
always  labored  to  realize  it.  Those  merchants  who  were  not  mer- 
chants have  built  their  enterprises  on  it  unknowingly,  and  those 
statesmen  who  were  not  statesmen  have  labored  to  build  the 
power  and  greatness  of  the  state  on  other  and  unsubstantial  foun- 
dations. This  secret,  however,  was  not  the  discovery  of  our  own 
statesmen.  It  preceded  them  all.  It  revealed  itself  to  Washing- 
ton, in  1783,  when  he  had  made  his  way,  at  the  close  of  the  war 
of  the  Kevolution,  up  the  Hudson  and  the  Mohawk,  and  along 
Wood  creek,  and  Oneida  lake,  and  the  Mad  river,  to  the  shore 
of  Lake  Ontario  at  Oswego.  The  sea  was  behind  him,  the  lakes 
stretched  away  before  him ;  his  feet  were  on  the  isthmus.  The 
secret  broke  upon  him,  and  he  gave  utterance  to  it  at  once  in  a 
letter  to  the  marquis  of  Chastellux,  which  has  long  since  gone 
into  history.  How  came  the  secret  to  break  itself  to  the  Father 
of  our  country  ?  I  will  tell  you  how.  He  was  seeking  security 
for  the  union  of  the  states  which  was  so  soon  to  cover  this  conti- 
nent. He  found  that  guaranty  in  commercial  union,  and  he  saw 
that  commercial  union  rising  out  of  the  canals  and  roads  which 
New  York  might  construct  across  the  isthmus  on  which  he  stood. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  we  have  only  been  executing  the  plans 
which  wise  and  patriotic  men  designed  for  us  long  ago.  We 
have  only  been  too  timid  and  too  slow.  In  1800,  Gouverneur 
Morris  predicted  that  in  fifty  years  ships  would  sail  out  of  Lake 
Erie,  through  the  Hudson,  to  Liverpool.  The  half  century  is  up, 
and  the  prediction  is  unfulfilled.  Shame  upon  us!  It  might 
have  been  fulfilled,  and  ought  to  have  been  fulfilled  in  1845,  and 
would  have  been,  if  the  public  works  had  not  been  unnecessarily 
and  unduly  abandoned.  Gouverneur  Morris  promised  only  a  rev- 
enue of  one  and  a  quarter  millions  of  .dollars  from  the  whole 
navigation  across  the  isthmus.  One  boat-canal  and  our  railroads, 
which  are  only  the  imperfect  fulfilment  of  his  plan  of  navigation, 
are  yielding  already  nearly  five  millions. 

It  is  due  to  the  truth  of  history  to  confess  that  the  city  of  New 
York  was  slow  to  comprehend  this  great  policy  and  her  own 
great  destiny.  The  state  forced  the  Erie  canal  upon  the  city  in 
spite  of  herself.  The  city  of  New  York  never  gave  a  vote  for 
the  Erie  canal  until  twelve  years  after  its  original  construction. 
But  it  is  equally  true  that  the  state  then  faltered  and  fell  away, 


324  SPEECHES  AND  ADDRESSES. 

leaving  the  system  to  fall  into  ruins ;  and  its  wrecks  still  present 
themselves  to  our  view  along  all  the  routes  of  the  canals  and 
along  the  route  of  this  great  railroad.  But  then  it  was  that  the 
merchants  of  New  York,  who  were  merchants,  came  to  the  res- 
cue. Their  city  had  trebled  in  population  and  quadrupled  in 
wealth  within  twenty-five  years  by  the  operation  of  the  Erie- 
canal.  They  then  made  returns  to  the  state  for  this  great  boon, 
by  the  construction  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad,  which 
will  serve  to  supply  the  deficiency  of  facilities  for  the  commerce 
which  grows  faster  than  we  can  enlarge  its  channel. 

The  suspension  of  this  work  in  their  hands  on  former  occasions, 
was  the  result  of  causes  beyond  their  control.  The  commercial 
embarrassments  of  1837  resulted  in  the  suspension,  not  of  this 
enterprise  alone,  but  in  the  suspension  of  every  enterprise  of  the 
sort  in  this  state  and  in  all  other  states,  except  that  indomitable 
and  noble  state,  Massachusetts.  The  resumption  and  completion 
of  it,  after  it  had  lost  the  public  confidence  and  the  favor  of  the 
state,  are  worthy  to  be  held  in  respect  and  admiration  by  all  men. 
All  honor,  then,  to  the  merchants  of  New  York !  I,  whom  they 
do  not  flatter,  and  who  do  not  hesitate  to  say  what  I  think  to  be 
the  truth  to  them,  am  free  to  confess  and  to  own  before  the  world 
that  they  are  the  builders  of  the  power  and  greatness  of  the  state, 
and  the  saviors  of  the  union  of  the  states.  But  they  do  all  this,  not 
by  going  down  to  Castle  Garden  to  resolve  in  favor  of  the  Union, 
but  by  building  canals  and  railroads,  to  increase  the  freedom  of 
inland  trade,  and  swell  to  its  utmost  limits  foreign  commerce. 

For  my  part,  I  have  faith  and  trust  in  the  wisdom  and  adapta- 
tion of  this  noble  system  of  union  established  by  our  fathers.  I 
have  faith  unbroken  in  the  loyalty  of  the  people  of  all  the  states, 
in  any  hour  of  trial.  I  repose  the  fullest  confidence  in  their  pa- 
triotism. Let  these  bonds  of  union  remain,  and  let  me  see  this 
isthmus  on  which  we  stand  channelled  and  furrowed  by  a  river 
wide  enough  and  deep  enough  to  convey  the  products  of  the  west 
with  the  least  cost  to  the  vessels  which  wait  for  them  on  the  At- 
lantic. Let  me  never  fail  to  see  these  iron  chains  forged  and 
cast  upon  the  territory  within  the  several  states,  binding  it  to- 
gether with  new  and  durable  links  as  it  grows  broader  and 
broader,  and  I  shall  care  not  who  may  agitate,  nor  shall  I  fear 
the  utmost  extension.  The  Union  will  be  safe,  for  its  security 
will  be  anchored  in  the  necessities  and  affections  of  the  states  and 
of  the  people. 


EXECUTIVE   SPEECHES. 


THE   ONONDAGAS. 

ALBANY,    MARCH    6,    1840. 
ABRAHAM   LE   FORT   TO    GOVERNOR   SEWARD. 

Great  Father:  Your  children,  the  Onondagas,  have  sent  me  to  you,  and  they  ask 
jrou  to  open  your  ears  to  me,  and  hear  the  talk  which  they  have  sent  by  me  to  you. 

Father:  Your  red  children,  the  Onondagas,  are  in  great  trouble.  They  feel  that 
you  can  scatter  the  dark  clouds  that  are  collecting  and  thickening  around  them,  and 
can  cause  the  bright  sun  of  peace  again  to  shine  upon  them,  and  their  minds  again  to 
be  possessed  in  peace. 

Father:  Will  you  now  listen  to  your  children,  the  Onondagas?  Our  white  fathers 
that  were  before  you,  were  good  men,  and  gave  good  counsels  to  us.  We  have  lain 
down  in  their  shade,  and  have  been  safe.  We  have  listened  to  their  advice,  and  been 
happy.  They  told  us  no  longer  to  drink  strong  water — to  sell  no  more  of  our  lands 
—  to  keep  and  cultivate  them,  to  raise  food  for  ourselves,  our  wives,  and  our  little 
ones  —  to  leave  hunting  and  fishing  —  to  live  as  our  white  brethren  did,  and  like  them 
to  be  happy  and  comfortable.  We  have  considered  this  advice.  We  have  watched 
our  white  brethren.  We  believe  this  advice,  of  our  white  fathers,  to  be  good.  We 
hunt  no  more.  We  have  gotten  oxen  and  horses.  We  cultivate  our  lands,  and  are 
following  the  advice  of  our  white  fathers,  and  are  fast  getting  into  the  ways  and  com- 
forts of  our  white  brethren. 

Father:  You  are  young  in  years:  we  hope  you  are  old  in  counsel  —  so  our  white 
brethren  tell  us,  and  we  believe  it  And  your  red  children  would  like  to  know  what 
is  your  mind,  and  whether  it  is  like  our  other  white  fathers,  who  have  sat  in  council 
before  you  at  the  great  council  fire  in  Albany,  and  who  are  now  dead. 

Father:  Will  you  listen  again?  Our  Oneida  brothers  have  been  in  trouble,  and 
have  been  often  to  you  in  council.  But  they  would  not  listen  to  you,  and  now  agree 
that  they  have  listened  to  bad  men,  who  did  not  counsel  them,  like  their  white  fathers, 
for  their  good.  They  have  sold  their  lands,  received  their  whole  pay,  and  spent  it  for 
strong  water;    become  a  poor,  and  wretched,  a  scattered,  and  wandering  people. 

Note. — Speech  of  Abraham  Le  Fort  to  Governor  Seward. — Abraham  Le  Fort  was  the  last  Onondaga 
chief,  the  last  of  a  race  of  savage  kings.  The  Onondagas  were  merged  in  the  Six  Nations,  or  Senecas, 
■and  left  at  the  old  seat  of  the  tribe,  only  a  small  remnant,  which  was  still  allowed  during  Governor 
43eward'8  time,  to  retain  their  qualified  sovereignty  and  nationality. — Ed. 


326  EXECUTIVE  SPEECHES. 

Many  have  gone  beyond  the  great  waters  of  the  west  Some  of  them  have  como- 
among  your  red  children  of  the  Onondagas,  and  with  the  little  white  foxes  would  per- 
suade our  young  warriors  to  sell  their  homes — to  leave  their  fathers  and  mothers  — 
their  brothers  and  sisters — to  go  with  them  to  possess  the  west — to  be  led  back  to- 
hunting  and  drunkenness. 

Father:  Your  red  children  desire  to  know  your  mind.  We  wish  to  keep  together 
—  to  possess  the  land  which  the  Great  Spirit  in  goodness  has  given  us  —  to  stay  by  the 
bones  of  our  fathers,  and  watch  the  ashes  here  of  those  we  loved  —  to  live  by  the  side 
of  those  we  know,  whom  we  have  tried,  and  who  are  our  friends.  We  know  our 
white  brethren  who  surround  us:  we  know  not  those  in  the  far  west.  We  know  our 
white  fathers  here:  we  know  not  the  white  fathers  in  the  west  Our  white  fathers 
here  have  taken- us  by  the  hand  —  and  have  been  wise  to  us  in  counsel  here.  Who 
will  be  our  fathers  in  the  west?  Will  they  be  kind  to  us,  or  will  they  strike  us  down? 
We  do  not  desire  to  sell.  We  do  not  desire  to  receive  the  principal  for  what  we  have 
sold.  We  only  want  the  interest  annually.  We  could  not  keep  the  principal.  Our 
white  brethren  understand  this  matter  much  better  than  your  red  children.  They 
have  been  honest  with  our  nation,  and  always  paid  every  year.  We  can  do  no  better 
than  to  go  on  as  we  have  done  with  them,  and  not  do  as  the  Oneidas  have  done. 

Father:  Listen  once  more.  The  chiefs,  and  warriors,  and  women,  of  the  Onondagas 
have  had  a  long  council  —  a  talk  of  three  days  —  and  their  request  to  their  father  is, 
that  he  will  shut  his  ears,  shake  his  head,  and  turn  his  face  away  from  all  talk  to  him 
about  the  sale  of  the  lands  of  the  Onondagas.  We  know  he  can  do  it,  and  drive  them 
awav  —  preserve  the  nation  in  peace  —  keep  them  together  in  friendship  —  and  not 
scatter  them  like  the  Oneidas. 

We  now  make  our  last  request.  Will  our  father  think  of  the  talk  which  his  red 
children  have  now  sent  him  ?  Will  he  send  them  his  mind  ?  Will  he  remember  hia 
children  of  the  Onondagas,  as  our  white  fathers  have  done,  and  let  them  continue  to 
lie  under  his  shade,  as  they  have  done  under  the  shade  of  their  white  fathers  before 
him?  Will  he  also  be  a  father  to  them,  and  send  them  his  mind?  This  is  all  that  is 
sent  by  me,  and  I  have  done. 


GOVERNOR    SEWARD   TO   ABRAHAM   LE   FORT. 

I  have  considered  the  talk  you  have  made  to  me  in  behalf  of 
the  sachems,  chiefs,  and  warriors,  of  the  Onondagas.  I  am  sorry 
to  hear  that  the  avarice  of  white  men  and  the  discontent  of  red 
men,  have  excited  alarms  among  your  people.  I  rejoice,  and  alt 
good  white  men  rejoice,  to  hear  that  the  Onondagas  have  deter- 
mined to  banish  the  use  of  strong  water,  that  they  assume  the 
habits  and  customs  of  civilized  life,  cultivate  their  lands,  possess 
oxen  and  horses,  and  desire  to  remain  in  the  land  of  their  brave 
and  generous,  though  unfortunate  forefathe  s. 

Why  should  the  Onondagas  exchange  their  homes  among  us 
for  the  privations  of  the  wilderness  in  the  far  west  ?  They  are  a 
quiet,  inoffensive,  and  improving  people.     The  public  welfare 


THE  ONONDAGAS.  327 

does  not  require  that  they  should  be  banished  from  their  native 
land.  Although  individuals  often  improve  their  fortunes  by 
emigration,  the  removal  of  a  whole  community  is  always  fol- 
lowed by  calamity  and  distress.  "With  temperance,  industry, 
and  education,  the  Onondagas  may  be  comfortable  and  happy, 
and  in  time  they  may  become  good  citizens  of  the  state. 

White  men  ought  to  be  just  and  generous  to  your  race.  In- 
dians, but  a  few  years  ago,  possessed  all  this  broad  domain. 
Now  the  white  men  own  all,  except  the  small  parcels  which  have 
been  reserved  as  a  home  for  the  remnants  of  the  Indian  tribes. 
There  is  one  common  Father  of  all  mankind.  Although  his  ways 
are  inscrutable,  we  know  that  his  benevolence  extends  to  all  his 
children  alike,  and  his  blessings  rest  upon  those  who  protect  the 
defenceless  and  succor  the  unfortunate. 

Say  to  your  people  that  I  heard  their  message  with  attention  : 
that  I  approve  their  determination  to  retain  their  lands  and 
remain  under  the  protection  of  the  state ;  that,  so  far  as  depends 
upon  my  exertions,  the  treaties  made  with  them  shall  be  faith- 
fully kept ;  that  if  white  men  seek  to  obtain  their  lands  by  force 
or  fraud,  I  will  set  my  face  against  them ;  if  red  men  propose  to 
sell  the  lands,  I  will  expostulate  with  them,  and  endeavor  to  con- 
vince them  of  their  error,  and  that  I  will  in  no  event  consent  to 
such  sale,  except  with  the  free,  and  unbought,  and  uncorrupted 
consent  of  the  chiefs,  head  men,  warriors,  and  people  of  the 
Onondagas,  and  not  even  then  without  an  effort  to  persuade  them 
that  their  true  happiness  would  be  promoted  by  retaining  their 
possessions,  cultivating  their  lands,  and  enjoying  the  comforts 
with  which  our  common  Father  has  surrounded  them.  The 
Onondagas  may  confide  in  me. 


328  EXECUTIVE  SPEECHES, 


THE   ONEIDAS. 

ALBANY,    MARCH    10,    1841. 

Brother  :  I  have  listened  to  your  talk  with  deep  interest.  The 
departure  from  time  to  time  of  the  several  portions  of  your  tribe 
is  always  regarded  by  me  as  among  the  most  affecting  events  in 
our  history.  It  proves  that  a  Providence  overrules  the  action  of 
the  white  men  and  red  men.  The  Oneidas  have  always  been  pro- 
tected and  cherished  by  the  public  councils  of  the  state ;  their 
welfare,  their  improvement,  their  civilization,  have  been  our  con- 
stant care,  and  I  have  indulged  a  hope  that  a  remnant  at  least  of 
the  nation  might  remain  among  us,  a  monument  of  the  justice 
and  generosity  of  our  people.  But  the  Great  Spirit  does  not  will 
it  to  be  so.  You  know  how  reluctantly  I  have  consented  to  the 
sale  of  your  lands.  I  have  now  given  the  reason  for  it.  The 
council-fires  of  the  Oneidas  will  soon  be  extinguished.  It  is  well 
that  no  enmity  can  be  raked  from  its  ashes. 

Brother,  I  thank  you  for  all  your  expressions  of  gratitude,  kind- 
ness, and  affection.  Since  it  is  decreed  that  you  must  leave  your 
native  fields,  it  is  consoling  to  us  to  know  that  we  are  not  richer 
by  your  misfortunes  or  losses  ;  that  your  relinquishment  of  your 
lands  was  more  than  voluntary ;  and  that  we  have  accounted  to 
you  for  your  land  at  the  full  value  at  which  it  could  be  sold  un- 
der the  most  favorable  circumstances. 

Brother,  your  request  is  complied  with.  The  agent,  who  has 
been  just  to  you  and  to  us,  shall  accompany  you  until  you  pass 
the  boundaries  of  the  state. 

Brother,  I  shall  always  listen  anxiously  to  hear  the  reports 
concerning  you  in  your  new  settlement.  I  hope  to  hear  that 
your  people  are  contented,  prosperous,  and  happy. 

Brother,  you  are  an  old  and  good  man.     You  have  seen  the 

Note. — Speech  addressed  to  Moses  Sehuyler,  an  Oneida  chief. — Ed. 


THE  ONEIDAS.  329 

desolations  which  the  fire-water  has  produced  among  your  peo- 
ple. Admonish  them  now  to  banish  that  fatal  enemy  from  their 
new  home. 

Brother,  I  bid  you  farewell.  May  the  Great  Spirit  guide  you 
on  your  way,  defend  your  people  from  every  danger,  and  en- 
lighten them  with  the  knowledge  that  leads  in  the  ways  of  virtue 
and  happiness ! 

Peace  be  with  you  and  your  children  for  ever! 


330  EXECUTIVE  SPEECHES. 


THE   WESTERN   RAILROAD. 

SPRINGFIELD,   MASS.,    MARCH,    1842. 

May  it  please  your  Excellency,  Gentlemen  of  the  Senate  and 

of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  General  Court  of 

Massachusetts  : 

In  the  name  of  the  senate  and  of  the  assembly  of  New  York, 
in  my  own  behalf,  and  as  well  for  the  absent  as  for  those  present, 
with  whom  I  have  the  honor  to  be  associated  in  the  affairs  of  that 
state,  I  tender  to  you  acknowledgments  for  this  cordial  and  fra- 
ternal welcome.  Representatives  are  here  from  our  commercial 
metropolis  and  our  agricultural  districts ;  from  the  seacoast  and 
the  shores  of  our  lakes ;  and  from  the  valleys  of  the  Susquehan- 
nah,  the  Delaware,  the  Hudson,  and  the  St.  Lawrence ;  and  their 
unanimity  warrants  me  in  tendering  these  salutations  in  the  name 
of  the  people  of  New  York. 

Not  to  know  the  wisdom,  moderation,  and  virtue,  of  your  coun- 
sels, would  argue  us  unobservant  of  the  prosperity  and  tranquil- 
lity of  your  commonwealth.  I  congratulate  you,  sir,  the  chief 
magistrate  of  that  commonwealth  [his  excellency  John  Davis], 
upon  this  conjunction  of  two  stars  in  our  constellation  as  an  event 
that  will  for  ever  signalize  your  career  of  public  service.  Shall 
I  not  confess  that  the  invitation  which  brought  us  here  excited 
our  surprise  ?  We  had  supposed  that  we  were  on  the  very  east- 
ern verge,  and  that  all  the  broad  and  boundless  west  lay  between 
us  and  the  setting  sun.  But  this  improvement,  which  you  have 
so  strangely  called  the  Western  railroad,  has  changed  our  posi- 
tion, and  we  must  now  acknowledge  ourselves  your  western 
brethren. 

We  of  New  York  are  not  a  unique,  or  a  primitive,  or  even  a 
homogeneous  people.     We  trace  no  common  lineage  to  an  un- 

Note. — The  completion  of  the  rnilroad  hetween  Boston  and  Albany  was  celebrated 
by  a  meeting  of  the  legislatures  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York  at  Springfield,  Massa- 
chusetts, in  March  ,1842,  on  which  occasion  Governor  Seward  delivered  this  speech. 


THE  WESTERN  RAILROAD.  3'Sl 

mingled  ancestry.  The  colony  of  New  Netherlands,  which  was 
the  nucleus  of  our  state,  has  received  accumulations  from  Eng- 
land, from  Ireland,  Scotland,  Germany,  France,  Poland,  and  from 
every  other  land  in  modern  Europe  where  man  has  suffered  op- 
pression or  arbitrary  power  has  attempted  to  subject  his  con- 
science. The  nervous  languages  of  the  upper  and  the  lower  Rhine, 
and  the  softer  dialects  of  the  Mediterranean,  mingle  in  our  streets 
and  in  our  distant  settlements.  Among  us,  he  alone  is  of  pecu- 
liar birth  whose  blood  allies  him  to  only  one  fatherland.  It  is 
one  of  our  cares,  by  the  agency  of  benign  and  equal  institutions, 
to  assimilate  all  these  various  masses,  and  reduce  them  to  one 
great,  harmonious,  united,  and  happy  people.  Judge,  then,  with 
what  interest  we  regard  a  community  to  whom  such  efforts  are 
unnecessary  and  unknown  —  a  community  who,  descended  from 
a  common  stock,  have  for  two  centuries  remained  separate  from 
other  portions  of  their  race,  and  retained  throughout  all  that  time 
the  primitive  virtues,  energies,  customs,  forms,  and  habits,  of 
their  ancestors. 

The  impress  of  the  New-England  schoolmaster  is  seen  every- 
where in  our  state,  and  you  might  obtain  an  acknowledgment 
from  each  one  of  her  representatives  here  that  he  has  profited  by 
that  teacher's  instructions.  Having  thus  known  the  schoolmas- 
ter, it  was  among  our  motives  to  this  visit  that  we  should  see  the 
land  whence  he  went  abroad,  and  become  acquainted  with  the 
people  whose  ancestors  erected  a  church  simultaneously  with 
their  dwellings,  and  a  university  within  twelve  years  after  their 
landing  at  Plymouth. 

Nor  can  we  forget  that  it  was  Massachusetts  that  encountered 
first  and  suffered  most  from  the  tyranny  which  resulted  in  our 
national  independence  —  that  the  first  blood  shed  in  that  sacred 
cause  flowed  at  Lexington  —  and  that  Liberty's  earliest  rampart 
was  established  upon  Bunker's  hill.  Nevertheless  the  struggles 
and  sacrifices  of  Massachusetts  have  until  now  been  known  to  us 
through  traditions  not  her  own,  and  they  still  seem  to  have  been 
those  of  a  distant,  though  an  allied  people — of  a  country  sepa- 
rated from  us  by  mountain-barriers  such  as  divide  every  conti- 
nent into  states  and  empires.  But  what  a  change  is  here !  This 
morning's  sun  was  just  greeting  the  site  of  old  Fort  Orange  as 
we  took  our  leave ;  and  now,  when  he  has  scarcely  reached  the 
meridian,  we  have  crossed  our  hitherto  impassable  barrier,  and 


332  EXECUTIVE  SPEECHES. 

have  met  you  here  on  the  shore  of  the  Connecticut,  the  battle- 
ground of  King  Philip's  cruel  wars  ;  and  before  that  sun  shall  set, 
we  might  ascend  the  heights  of  Charlestown,  or  rest  upon  the 
rock  that  was  wet  with  the  blood  that  flowed  from  the  weary 
feet  of  the  pilgrim  fathers. 

Sir,  you  have  well  set  forth  the  benefits  which  will  result  to 
jou,  to  us,  to  our  country,  and  to  mankind,  from  the  triumph  of 
modern  science  over  the  physical  obstructions  to  intercourse  be- 
tween the  American  communities.  I  can  advert  to  but  one  of 
these  results  —  the  increasing  strength  of  the  states,  and  the  per- 
petuity of  their  union.  New  York,  Massachusetts,  and  her  sister- 
states  of  New  England,  will  no  longer  be  merely  confederated 
states.  Their  interests,  their  affections,  and  their  sympathies,  will 
now  be  intermingled  —  and  a  common  and  indivisible  destiny, 
whether  of  good  or  evil,  awaits  them  all.  Had  such  connections 
existed  when  the  British  throne  attempted  to  abridge  the  rights 
of  the  colonies,  what  power  could  have  wounded  Massachusetts 
when  New  York  could  have  rushed  to  her  defence  ?  Could  Great 
Britain  and  her  savage  allies  have  scourged  so  severely  our  infant 
settlements  upon  the  Mohawk  and  the  Susquehannah,  if  New 
England  could  have  gone  to  their  relief?  How  vain  will  be  any 
attempt  hereafter  to  array  us  against  each  other !  Since  Provi- 
dence has  been  pleased  to  permit  these  states  to  be  thus  joined 
together,  who  shall  put  them  asunder  ? 

You  have  rightly  assumed  that  on  this  occasion  we  indulge  no 
jealousies  of  your  prosperity,  and  no  apprehensions  of  losing  our 
power  or  influence.  The  Hudson  is  beautiful  in  our  eyes,  for  it 
flows  through  the  land  of  our  birth,  and  our  institutions  and  marts 
overhang  its  waters.  But  if  its  shores  be  not  the  true  and  proper 
seat  of  commerce  and  of  empire,  or  if  we  have  not  the  virtues 
and  the  energies  necessary  to  retain  our  vantage-ground,  we  shall 
not  try  to  check  the  prosperity  or  the  political  ascendency  of  our 
sister-states.  Far  from  indulging  such  unworthy  thoughts,  we 
regard  this  and  every  other  improvement  as  calculated  to  pro- 
mote our  own  prosperity,  and,  what  is  far  more  important  than 
the  advancement  of  our  state  or  of  yours,  the  union  and  harmony 
of  the  whole  American  family.  The  bond  that  brings  us  into  so 
olose  connection  is  capable  of  being  extended  from  your  coast  to 
the  Mississippi,  and  of  being  fastened  around  not  only  New  York 
and  the  first  thirteen,  but  all  the  twenty-six  states.     This  is  the 


THE  WESTERN  RAILROAD.  335 

policy  of  New  York,  and  her  ambition.  We  rejoice  in  your  co- 
operation, and  invite  its  continuance,  until  alarms  of  disunion 
shall  be  among  the  obsolete  dangers  of  the  republic. 

New  York  has  been  addressed  here  in  language  of  magnanim- 
ity. It  would  not  become  me  to  speak  of  her  position,  her  re- 
sources, or  her  influence.  And  yet  I  may,  without  offending  the 
delicacy  of  her  representatives  here,  and  of  her  people  at  home, 
claim  that  she  is  not  altogether  unworthy  of  admiration.  Our 
mountains,  cataracts,  and  lakes,  can  not  be  surveyed  without  lift- 
ing the  soul  on  high.  Our  metropolis  and  our  inland  cities,  our 
canals  and  railroads,  our  colleges  and  schools,  and  our  twelve- 
thousand  libraries,  evince  emulation  and  a  desire  to  promote  the 
welfare  of  our  country,  the  progress  of  civilization,  and  the  hap- 
piness of  mankind.  While  we  acknowledge  that  it  was  your 
Warren  that  offered  up  his  life  at  Charlestown,  your  Adams  and 
your  Hancock  who  were  the  proscribed  leaders  in  the  Revolution, 
and  your  Franklin  whose  wisdom  swayed  its  councils,  we  can 
not  forget  that  Ticonderoga  and  Saratoga  are  within  our  borders,, 
that  it  was  a  son  of  New  York  that  fell  in  scaling  the  heights  of 
Abraham,  that  another  shaped  every  pillar  of  the  constitution 
and  twined  the  evergreen  around  its  capital,  that  our  Fulton 
sent  forth  the  mighty  mechanical  agent  that  is  revolutionizing 
the  world,  and  that  but  for  our  Clinton,  his  lofty  genius  and  un- 
daunted perseverance,  the  events  of  this  day  and  all  its  joyous 
anticipations  had  slept  together  in  the  womb  of  futurity. 

The  grandeur  of  this  occasion  oppresses  me.  It  is  not,  as  some 
have  supposed,  the  first  time  that  states  have  met.  On  many 
occasions,  in  all  ages,  states,  nations,  and  empires,  have  come 
together.  But  the  trumpet  heralded  their  approach ;  they  met 
in  the  shock  of  war :  one  or  the  other  sunk  to  rise  no  more,  and 
desolation  marked,  for  the  warning  of  mankind,  the  scene  of  the 
fearful  encounter.  And  if  sometimes  Chivalry  asked  an  armis- 
tice, it  was  but  to  light  up  with  evanescent  smiles  the  stern  vis- 
age of  War.  How  different  is  this  scene  !  Here  are  no  contend- 
ing hosts,  no  destructive  engines,  nor  the  terrors  nor  even  the 
pomp  of  war.  Not  a  helmet,  sword,  or  plume,  is  seen  in  all  this 
vast  assemblage.  Nor  is  this  a  hollow  truce  between  contending 
states.  We  are  not  met  upon  a  cloth  of  gold,  and  under  a  silken 
canopy,  to  practise  deceitful  courtesies ;  nor  in  an  amphitheatre, 
with  jousts  and  tournaments,  to  make  trial  of  our  skill  in  arms 


334  EXECUTIVE  SPEECHES. 

preparatory  to  a  fatal  conflict.  We  have  come  here  enlightened 
and  fraternal  states,  without  pageantry,  or  even  insignia  of  power, 
to  renew  pledges  of  fidelity,  and  to  cultivate  affection  and  all  the 
arts  of  peace.  Well  may  our  sister-states  look  upon  the  scene 
witli  favor,  and  the  nations  of  the  earth  draw  from  it  good  augu- 
ries of  universal  and  perpetual  peace. 

Representatives  of  the  states  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York ! 
I  may  have  said,  in  the  fervor  of  the  moment,  something  which 
may  seem  here  or  elsewhere  unbecoming  so  solemn  and  interest- 
ing an  occasion.  If  I  have  so  offended,  I  ask  that  the  error  may 
be  forgiven  and  forgotten — that  this  day  may  remain  in  your 
memories  as  in  mine  —  a  day  whose  passing  hours  witnessed  no 
discord,  and  left  no  painful  recollections. 


POLITICAL   WRITINGS. 


ADDKESS   OF   A  KEPUBLICAlSr   CONVENTION. 

AUBURN,    OCTOBER    5,    1824. 

Honest  and  honorable  men  are  convinced  that  a  combination 
exists  in  this  state,  enjoys  its  honors,  and  wields  its  power,  whose 
principles  and  practices  are  at  war  with  its  best  interest,  its  pros- 
perity, and  its  fame. 

The  history  of  this  combination  begins  when,  taking  advantage 
of  the  strong  current  of  popular  opinion  in  favor  of  a  correction 
of  the  errors  of  the  old  constitution  of  this  state,  a  few  men  who 
were  clamorous  for  reform,  but  whose  lives  had  exhibited  not 
one  sacrifice  for  the  public  good,  united  with  a  few  others  until 
then  unknown  among  us,  because  they  had  done  nothing  worthy 
of  notice,  and  all  becoming  loud  in  their  protestations  of  devotion 
to  republicanism,  they  succeeded  in  obtaining  seats  in  the  late 
constitutional  convention. 

Defeated  then  in  their  efforts  to  retain  the  old  council  of  ap- 
pointment which  they  had  hoped  to  wield  at  their  pleasure,  they 
succeeded  in  incorporating  into  the  new  constitutional  system  an 
institution,  the  evils  of  whicli  are  more  severe  than  those  which 
were  produced  by  the  justly-obnoxious  features  of  the  system 
which  was  abolished  —  an  institution  which  combines  in  one 
strong  phalanx  the  officeholders,  from  the  governor  and  the  sen- 
ators down  to  the  justices  of  the  peace  in  the  most  remote  parts 

Note. — This  address  is  among  Mr.  Seward's  earliest  political  efforts.  At  the  time  it 
■was  written  he  was  but  twenty  three  years.  A  more  faithful  portrait  of  the  "Albany 
Regency"  could  scarcely  have  been  drawn  by  a  practised  hand. — Ed. 


336  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

of  the  state  —  which  makes  the  governor  a  subservient  tool  of  the 
faction  which  designates  him  ;  converts  the  otherwise  respectable 
judiciaries  of  the  counties  into  shambles  for  the  bargain  and  sale 
of  offices;  and  selects  justices  of  the  peace  (in  whose  courts  are 
decided  questions  involving  a  greater  amount  of  property  than 
in  all  the  other  tribunals  of  the  state),  not  from  among  those 
whom  an  intelligent  people  would  choose,  but  from  the  supple 
and  needy  parasites  of  power,  who  may,  and  it  is  to  be  feared 
do,  bring  not  only  the  influence  but  the  very  authority  of  their 
offices  to  the  support  of  the  party  whose  creatures  they  are. 
Thus  it  has  come  to  pass  that  each  of  the  several  counties  con- 
tains a  little  aristocracy  of  officeholders,  existing  independently 
of  popular  control,  while  they  are  banded  together  by  ties  of 
common  political  brotherhood. 

Another  part  of  their  organization  which  presents  serious 
ground  of  apprehension,  is  the  caucus  system.  It  was  in  vain 
that  the  framers  of  the  constitution  placed  a  barrier  between 
those  who  should  make  the  laws  and  those  who  should  execute 
them.  The  doctrine  of  construction  has  been  extended  so  far  by 
ingenuity  and  subtlety,  that  their  union  is  no  longer  an  anomaly. 
Men  chosen  to  make  laws,  have  constituted  themselves  a  power 
to  appoint  those  by  whom  they  shall  be  executed.  The  effect  is, 
that  these  men  have  themselves  become  the  subjects  of  barter 
and  sale.  Public  and  beneficent  laws  are  seldom  seen  in  their 
journals,  while  their  pages  are  swollen  with  laws  to  accommodate 
politicians  and  speculators.  Republican  dignity  and  simplicity 
are  banished  from  the  public  councils,  and  faction  has  obtruded 
its  unblushing  front  into  the  halls  of  legislation.  The  caucus 
system,  originally  adopted  from  necessity,  and  never  considered 
obligatory  further  than  its  nominations  concurred  with  popular 
opinion,  has  been  converted  into  a  political  inquisition.  Patriot- 
ism is  made  to  consist  in  a  servile  submission  to  its  decrees.  Of- 
fices and  honors  are  offered  to  those  only  who  will  renounce  their 
independence,  and  give  their  support  to  the  "  old  and  established 
usages  of  the  party,"  while  denunciations  without  measure  are 
poured  forth  upon  the  heads  of  those  who  dare  to  question  the 
infallibility  of  the  decrees  thus  obtained.  These  denunciations 
have  had  their  effect  upon  weak  and  timid  minds,  while  the  in- 
ducements offered  on  the  other  hand  have  not  failed  to  enlist 
profligate  politicians.     These  systems  constitute  the  machinery 


THE  "ALBANY  REGENCY."  337 

of  the  Albany  regency.  Honest  men  need  no  such  aid  to  maintain 
a  just  influence.  The  safety  of  the  state  is  not  to  be  secured,  nor 
its  welfare  to  be  promoted,  by  combinations  to  deprive  the  peo- 
ple of  their  constitutional  power.  When  in  republican  states 
men  attempt  to  entrench  themselves  beyond  the  popular  reach, 
their  designs  require  investigation.  Such  men  have  for  three* 
years  exercised  the  authority  of  this  state.  And  what  have  they 
done  to  promote  its  prosperity  or  to  add  to  its  renown  ?  The 
judiciary,  once  our  pride,  is  humbled  and  degraded.  The  march 
of  internal  improvement  is  retarded,  and  the  character  of  the 
state  is  impaired.  Let  the  proceedings  of  the  present  legislature 
speak — a  legislature  composed  of  members,  most  of  whom  were 
pledged  in  their  several  counties  and  all  of  whom  were  instructed 
to  restore  to  the  people  their  constitutional  right  of  appointing 
electors  of  president  and  vice-president  of  the  United  States. 
Yet  its  journals  exhibit  little  else  than  contradictory  measures, 
affecting  private  corporations,  together  with  all  the  practices  of 
chicanery  and  open  opposition  to  the  very  law  they  were  required 
to  pass.  And  all  this  has  been  done  to  effect  the  election  to  the 
presidency,  of  a  citizen  of  this  state  known  only  by  successive 
developments  of  his  political  intrigues,  while  he  is  deficient  in 
all  those  high  qualifications  which  ought  to  distinguish  the  chief 
magistrate  of  a  free  people. 


%^"  ( 


-  TT';r 


338  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 


ADDRESS  OF  THE  MINORITY  OF  THE  MEMBERS 
OF  THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  1831.* 

To  the  People  of  the  State  of  New  York: 

At  the  close  of  a  long,  laborious,  and  in  many  respects  impor- 
tant, session  of  your  legislature,  a  portion  of  your  representatives 
who  avow  their  adherence  to  the  democratic  principles  of  our 
government,  and  their  opposition  to  all  privileged  orders,  aris- 
tocracies, and  secret  societies,  feel  it  their  duty  to  give  you  some 
account  of  what  has  been  done,  and  of  what  has  been  left  undone. 

On  our  assembling  in  the  chambers  of  the  two  houses,  we  were 
amazed  by  the  declaration  in  the  executive  message  to  the  effect 
substantially,  that  our  state  treasury  was  exhausted,  and  that  no 
resource  for  carrying  on  the  government  remained,  but  a  direct 
tax  on  your  real  and  personal  property.  When,  in  looking  over 
the  account  of  the  expenses  of  the  government,  we  found  fifty 
thousand  dollars  expended  for  salaries  of  the  state  officers,  and 
forty-five  thousand  dollars  for  a  stateprison,  thirteen  thousand 
dollars  paid  to  a  state  printer,  forty  thousand  dollars  for  un- 
defined miscellaneous  expenses,  thirty-five  thousand  dollars  for 
deficiencies  in  the  Oswego,  and  in  the  Seneca  and  Cayuga  canals, 
besides  numerous  other  expenditures ;  and  when  we  perceived 
with  what  reckless  profusion  the  public  treasure  was  squandered, 
we  were  at  no  loss  to  account  for  the  alarming  fact  that  the 
treasury  was  exhausted.  And  yet  with  a  full  knowledge  of  our 
condition,  the  session  has  been  marked  by  constant  efforts  on  the 
part  of  the  majority  to  appropriate  the  public  treasure  for  the 
benefit  of  themselves  and  their  friends,  and  to  increase  the  sala- 

*  Among  the  names  signed  to  this  address,  we  find  those  of  Trumbull  Cary,  Philo 
C.  Fuller,  William  H.  Maynard,  Albert  H.  Tracy,  Millard  Fillmore,  and  John  C.  Spen- 
cer. While  Mr.  Seward  was  a  member  of  the  legislature,  and  even  since  that  period, 
the  task  of  preparing  the  annual  legislative  address  of  the  political  party  to  which  he 
is  attached,  has  frequently  been  assigned  to  him. — Ed. 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  339 

ries  and  emoluments  of  their  partisans ;  and  by  the  most  obsti- 
nate resistance  to  every  measure  calculated  to  reduce  exorbitant 
compensations,  and  to  restrain  and  limit  unnecessary  expenditures. 
A  new  office  has  been  created  with  a  salary  of  two  thousand  dol- 
lars ;  propositions  to  raise  the  salaries  of  the  chancellor,  supreme 
oourt,  and  circuit-judges,  have  been  made ;  the  salary  of  the 
adjutant-general  has  been  increased,  while  the  expenses  of  his 
office  have  been  reduced.  To  the  comptroller,  who  has  a  salary 
of  $2,500,  and  an  allowance  for  clerk  hire,  stationery,  fuel, 
<fcc,  of  more  than  $7,000,  an  additional  allowance  of  $2,000, 
for  clerk  hire,  has  been  made.  Some  of  these  were  probably 
necessary,  many  of  them  were  not  required  by  any  public  exi- 
gency ;  and  a  prudent  economy  with  a  bankrupt  treasury, 
would  have  dispensed  with  a  large  portion  of  them.  They  are 
now  alluded  to  for  the  purpose  of  exhibiting  the  wanton  and 
reckless  disposition  to  squander  your  money,  which  charac- 
terizes the  dominant  party,  and  their  general  extravagance. 
Other  circumstances  evince  their  determination  to  divide  among 
them  the  spoils  derived  from  the  public.  There  is  a  quarantine 
establishment  on  Staten  Island,  for  the  protection  of  the  public 
health,  which  is  supported  by  a  tax  on  passengers  and  sailors 
arriving  at  the  city  of  New  York.  More  than  one  million  of 
dollars  that  has  been  thus  collected,  has  been  squandered  upon 
the  construction  of  splendid  palaces  and  extravagant  and  unne- 
cessary buildings,  and  in  pampering  a  set  of  officers  attached  to 
the  establishment.  Some  charitable  and  enlightened  captains  of 
vessels  and  friends  of  sailors,  besought  the  legislature  to  provide 
a  mode  by  which  the  amount  collected  by  the  tax  on  sailors 
might  be  taken  from  the  grasp  of  the  quarantine  officers,  and 
placed  under  the  charge  of  trustees,  who  should  hold  and  dispose 
of  it  for  the  relief  of  sick  and  disabled  seamen  ;  and  should  defray 
the  expenses  of  their  support  at  the  Marine  hospital.  This  ap- 
plication was  in  itself  so  just,  and  its  objects  were  so  benevolent, 
that  the  house  of  assembly  with  unprecedented  unanimity  passed 
a  bill  in  accordance  with  the  noble  design.  In  the  course  of  the 
discussions  on  this  bill,  it  was  discovered  that  one  of  these  officers 
at  the  quarantine,  the  health  officer,  received  an  annual  compen- 
sation of  between  $12,000  and  $16,000  for  about  seven  months 
service.  A  bill  was  immediately  introduced  and  passed,  in  the 
assembly,  providing  for  that  officer  a  salary  of  $4,000,  and  re- 


340  POLITICAL  WRITINGa 

quiring  him  to  account  for  his  fees  to  the  state  treasury.  There- 
had  not  been  time  for  party  discipline  to  arrest  the  passage  of 
these  bills  in  the  assembly.  But  in  the  senate  the  usual  party 
machinery  was  put  in  operation.  And  while  one  of  the  bills,  re- 
lating to  the  Seamens'  Retreat,  has  been  reluctantly  passed  against 
the  report  of  a  party  committee,  and  from  the  apprehension  of 
public  odium  and  danger  to  the  party,  in  the  city  of  ISTew  Yorkr 
the  other,  reducing  the  exorbitant  salary  of  the  health  officer,, 
has  been  frustrated,  and  he  is  to  be  continued  in  the  receipt  of 
his  enormous  income. 

These,  fellow-citizens,  are  but  specimens  of  the  prevailing  sys- 
tem of  legislation  which  provides  for  favorites  extravagant  com- 
pensations wrung  out  of  the  earnings  of  the  industrious.  There 
are  other  officers,  such  as  the  state  printer,  and  the  register  and 
assistant-register  in  chancery,  who  receive  enormous  amounts  of 
fees,  utterly  disproportioned  to  the  services  they  render,  and  to 
the  talents  and  qualifications  necessary  to  discharge  their  duties. 
The  situation  of  state  printer  is  believed  to  be  worth  to  the  in- 
cumbent, over  and  above  all  expenses,  more  than  ten  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  a  great  part  of  which  arises  from  the  sums  paid 
for  advertising  by  insolvent  debtors.  This  private  interest  has 
come  in  direct  collision  with  one  of  the  most  important  bills  ori- 
ginated during  the  session — the  bill  to  abolish  imprisonment  for 
debt.  Some  law  on  that  subject  was  demanded  by  a  very  clear 
and  unequivocal  expression  of  public  sentiment  in  all  parts  of  the 
state.  A  law  was  finally  framed  after  much  labor,  which  was 
designed  to  protect  the  unfortunate  and  honest  debtor,  while  it 
afforded  the  means  of  preventing  and  punishing  frauds  upon 
creditors.  In  its  effect,  however,  it  destroyed  the  great  source 
of  revenue  of  the  state  printer,  as  it  rendered  the  largest  class  of 
insolvent  advertisements  unnecessary.  The  same  miserable  policy, 
which  on  so  many  occasions  sacrificed  the  public  good  to  the 
pecuniary  interests  of  partisans,  was  applied  in  this  instance. 
But  the  strong  force  of  public  sentiment  carried  the  bill  through 
the  assembly,  in  defiance  of  the  secret  and  insidious  opposition 
of  the  leaders  of  the  party.  In  the  senate,  attempts  to  defeat  it 
were  made  by  those  legislative  manoeuvres  which  are  so  conveni- 
ently adapted  to  the  purposes  of  men  desirous  of  avoiding  the 
responsibility  of  a  direct  outrage  upon  public  opinion.  Amend- 
ments were  proposed  by  that  body,  utterly  inconsistent  with  the 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  341 

-whole  frame  of  the  bill,  calculated  to  perplex  its  provisions  and 
render  them  impracticable.  The  friends  of  the  bill  made  every 
effort  by  concession  after  concession  to  obtain  the  concurrence  of 
the  senate,  until,  in  order  to  compel  the  party  leaders  in  that 
body  openly  to  evince  their  determination  to  reject  the  bill — it 
was  proposed  to  defer  the  operation  of  the  law  wholly  until  the 
1st  March,  1832.  This  left  no  alternative,  and  in  that  form  the 
act  has  passed.  During  the  arduous  struggles  to  obtain  this  law, 
opposition  was  constantly  encountered,  from  the  immediate  polit- 
ical friends  of  the  state  printer,  who  left  no  means  untried  to 
defeat  any  and  every  bill,  which  in  its  results  would  encroach  on 
his  enormous  income. 

Such,  fellow-citizens,  is  the  lamentable  condition  of  your  gov- 
ernment, that  no  public  measure,  however  important  to  your 
welfare,  or  however  strongly  demanded  by  your  wishes  or  your 
interests,  can  be  accomplished,  if  it  in  any  way  lessens  the  per- 
quisites of  a  set  of  men  who  have  come  to  consider  public  offices 
as  their  private  property. 

We  are  constrained  to  believe  that  the  political  organization 
•which  controls  this  state  is  combined  with  a  moneyed  aristocracy, 
•existing  in  the  city  of  Albany,  which  owns  the  Mechanics 
and  Farmers'  bank.  We  find  the  officers  and  large  stockholders 
of  that  institution,  and  their  immediate  connections,  the  most 
prominent  leaders  in  the  dominant  party,  and  influencing  every 
executive  and  legislative  measure.  We  find  them  embarking 
with  the  highest  officers  in  the  state,  in  speculations  where  the 
power  of  government,  or  the  influence  of  its  officers,  can  be 
brought  to  aid  their  projects  of  aggrandizement.  We  find  them 
owming  banks  in  the  interior,  and  establishing  associations  with 
these  institutions  in  every  part  of  the  state.  It  is  believed  to  be 
owing  to  their  influence,  that  you  have  witnessed  the  astonishing 
spectacle  of  a  bank  commissioner,  selected  to  preside  over  one 
branch  of  the  legislature.  Their  identity  of  interest  with  the 
canal  commissioners,  with  the  canal  board,  with  the  comptroller, 
and  with  a  majority  of  the  bank  commissioners,  enables  them  to 
exercise  a  most  dangerous  influence  over  all  the  moneyed  institu- 
tions in  the  state,  and  particularly  by  their  power  of  distributing 
the  enormous  revenues  collected  from  the  canals,  and  the  surplus 
of  'those  revenues  now  amounting  to  a  million  and  a  half  of  dol- 
lars.    This  identity  of  interests  causes  a  combinatiou  of  political 


342  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

influence,  which  bids  defiance  to  all  legislative  control.  Hence 
we  have  seen  that  a  proposition,  submitted  to  the  senate,  to  limit 
the  term  of  service  of  the  canal  commissioners  in  the  same  man- 
ner that  the  comptroller  and  secretary  of  state  are  limited,  Was 
rejected,  with  scarcely  a  reason  assigned.  Hence  we  have  wit- 
nessed the  rejection  of  an  amendment  proposed  to  a  bill  in  the- 
assembly,  providing  that  no  member  of  the  canal  board  should 
vote  on  a  proposition  to  deposite  the  revenues  of  the  canal  fund 
in  any  bank  in  which  such  member  was  interested.  The  ordi- 
nary guards  of  prudence,  and  the  sound  principles  of  law,  which 
prevent  trustees  from  converting  the  trust  fund  to  their  own  pri- 
vate purposes,  are  refused  to  be  applied  to  our  state  officers,  who 
have  an  almost  unlimited  discretion  in  the  control  of  the  public 
moneys.  From  the  same  cause,  and  from  the  same  malign  influ- 
ence, a  canal  commissioner,  who  has  repeatedly  and  openly  vio- 
lated the  spirit  and  intent  of  the  law,  which  forbids  his  being 
interested  in  works  depending  on  the  canal,  and  who  has  em- 
barked in  extensive  speculations  in  property  whose  value  de- 
pended on  his  official  power,  has  been  sustained  in  defiance  of 
the  most  conclusive  testimony,  and  in  contempt  of  public  opinion. 
The  power  of  the  canal  commissioners,  of  the  canal  board,  and 
finally  of  the  legislature  itself,  has  been  enlisted  to  aid  the  specu- 
lation in  surplus  waters,  made  by  the  managers  of  the  Mechanics 
and  Farmers'  bank,  in  conjunction  with  a  canal  commissioner. 
By  the  force  of  the  same  association,  that  commissioner  is  suffered 
to  remain  in  office,  notwithstanding  a  party  committee,  anxious 
to  screen  him  from  all  censure,  have  reported  a  decided  disap- 
probation of  his  conduct.  While  they  point  out  instances  of 
gross  impropriety,  plain  and  palpable  violations  of  his  official 
duties,  and  the  perversion  of  the  power  of  his  office  to  the  pur- 
poses of  individual  speculation,  they  yet  report  a  resolution  that 
he  has  not  violated  a  particular  statute?  This  report  was  wan- 
tonly and  unnecessarily  delayed,  until  it  became  too  late  to  dis- 
cuss it,  and  expose  its  inconsistencies  and  contradictions ;  and 
by  such  an  expedient  has  the  indignation  of  the  legislature  been 
prevented  from  visiting  this  officer. 

We  have  alluded  to  these  transactions,  because  they  have  occu- 
pied so  much  attentiou  during  the  session,  and  because  they  dis- 
tinctly illustrate  the  dangerous  extent  of  the  combined  moneyed 
and  political  aristocracy  which  we  have  described.    The  existence 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  343 

of  that  combination,  and  of  its  influence,  is  so  well  known  and 
universally  admitted,  that  it  has  been  recently  charged,  as  an 
alarming  circumstance,  by  the  most  distinguished  newspaper  of 
the  dominant  party  in  the  city  of  New  York.  To  this  combina- 
tion do  we  attribute  the  passage  of  the  unwise  and  unnecessary 
resolutions  respecting  the  bank  of  the  United  States.  That  bank 
not  only  keeps  in  check  the  power  of  the  aristocracy  we  have 
described,  but,  in  consequence  of  being  obliged  by  its  charter 
to  lend  money  at  six  per  cent.,  it  materially  diminishes  the 
income  which  the  Mechanics  and  Farmers'  bank  and  its  depen- 
dencies would  derive  from  loans  made  at  seven  per  cent.  Hence 
motives  of  private  interest  co-operated  with  a  desire  for  a  con- 
tinuance of  political  control,  and  produced  an  expression  of  the 
legislature  adverse  to  the  bank  of  the  United  States. 

We  were  unwilling  to  yield  our  assent  to  any  measure  dictated 
by  such  sordid  motives ;  we  looked  in  vain  for  any  authority 
conferred  on  us  by  our  constituents,  to  decide  upon  a  charter 
which  the  state  had  not  granted,  and  which  we  could  not  repeal  ; 
we  deemed  it  premature  and  rash,  to  undertake  to  pronounce, 
five  or  six  years  in  advance,  upon  the  propriety  of  renewing  an 
institution  deeply  connected  with  the  vital  interests  of  the 
country ;  and,  least  of  all,  were  we  willing  to  surrender  the 
whole  banking  power  in  this  state,  with  all  its  tremendous  influ- 
ence, to  a  combination  of  men,  who  have  so  clearly  shown  that 
they  seek  political  power  as  the  means  of  promoting  their  private 
speculations. 

Among  the  matters  presented  for  the  consideration  of  the  legis- 
lature, in  the  governor's  message,  was  that  relating  to  the  con- 
troversy between  this  state  an4  New  Jersey,  respecting  the 
boundary-line.  Contentions  between  the  states  of  this  Union  are 
in  their  nature  of  an  irritating  character,  and  calculated  to  disturb 
the  peace  and  harmony  of  the  whole.  Repeated  negotiations 
between  us  and  New  Jersey  had  terminated,  not  only  in  a  total 
failure  to  accomplish  any  arrangement,  but  in  a  degree  of  bad 
feeling  between  the  citizens  of  the  respective  states  living  near 
the  disputed  boundary,  which  threatened  disastrous  consequences. 
Severe  laws  had  been  passed  by  both  states,  and  a  sheriff  of  this 
state  had  been  actually  imprisoned  in  New  Jersey,  for  arresting 
persons  within  the  territory  claimed  by  that  state.  Under  these 
circumstances  New  Jersey  appealed  to  the  supreme  court  of  the 


344:  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

United  States,  under  that  provision  of  the  constitution  which 
gives  to  that  court  jurisdiction  to  hear  and  determine  contro- 
versies between  two  or  more  states.  It  was  known  that  the 
court  had,  in  the  winter  term  of  1830,  declared  its  determination 
to  proceed  in  the  cause,  according  to  the  rules  and  practice  which 
it  had  settled  more  than  thirty-live  years  before.  The  legislature 
of  this  state  had,  as  early  as  1808,  directed  that  the  governor 
should  provide  for  the  defence  of  any  suit  that  might  be  brought 
against  us  by  New  Jersey.  With  these  facts  before  us,  it  was 
with  astonishment  we  learned  from  the  executive  communica- 
tions, that  under  these  circumstances,  our  governor  had  assumed 
the  same  attitude  of  defiance  to  the  supreme  court,  which  had 
been  taken  by  the  state  authorities  of  Georgia,  and  that  the 
example  of  nullification  furnished  by  South  Carolina,  was  to  be 
followed  by  him.  Pretences  the  most  frivolous  and  undignified, 
were  urged  to  justify  this  violation  of  a  plain  compact  entered 
into  between  the  different  states,  for  the  settlement  of  their  con- 
troversies. For  a  full  understanding  of  these  pretences,  we  beg 
leave  to  refer  you  to  a  report  of  the  minority  of  a  committee  of 
the  house  of  assembly,  made  on  that  subject,  during  the  recent 
session.  The  public  indignation,  particularly  in  that  part  of  the 
state  most  deeply  interested,  was  so  loudly  and  distinctly  ex- 
pressed, that  the  design  of  embroiling  this  state  with  the  judiciary 
of  the  United  States,  and  of  identifying  us  to  some  extent  with 
the  nullifying  principles  and  practices  of  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina,  was  abandoned.  But  the  manner  of  the  abandonment 
was  more  undignified  and  puerile,  if  possible,  than  the  original 
defiance.  After  denying  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court,  our  gover- 
n  >r,  notwithstanding,  concludes,  to  appear  there  and  defend  our 
rights;  but  relies  on  a  technical  rule  extremely  applicable  to 
courts  held  by  justices  of  the  peace,  that  consent  can  not  confer 
jurisdiction;  and  gives  notice  that,  if  the  decision  should  be 
adverse  to  our  wishes,  we  may  avail  ourselves  of  this  honorable 
and  manly  rule,  and  resist  the  execution  of  the  judgment!  We 
can  scarcely  trust  ourselves  to  express  the  sentiments  inspired  by 
this  language  and  conduct  of  the  chief-magistrate  of  this  state. 
A  party  majority  of  a  committee  in  the  assembly,  ventured  to 
report  on  the  subject,  and  to  submit  a  resolution  approving  the 
conduct  of  the  governor.  But  the  answer  to  that  report,  by  the 
minority,  placed  the  conduct  of  the  governor,  the  mistakes  of  the 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  345 

attorney-general,  and  the  blunders  of  the  committee,  in  a  light  so 
clear,  that  the  resolution  was  suffered  to  remain  on  the  table.  If 
we  do  not  utterly  mistake  the  intelligence  and  moral  feeling  of 
our  fellow-citizens,  they  will,  with  one  accord,  disavow  the  line 
of  conduct  hitherto  pursued  by  the  governor,  as  well  as  the 
unworthy  reservation  of  a  future  defiance,  which  he  has  thought 
proper  to  make.  They  will  be  faithful  to  the  compact  which  they 
have  made  with  the  other  states,  and  will  not  shrink  from  its 
•duties  by  evasions  and  subterfuges.  And  if  they  consent  to  take 
the  chance  of  a  decision  in  their  favor  by  the  national  judiciary, 
they  will  not  deny  to  their  sister-state,  New  Jersey,  the  benefit 
•of  a  reciprocal  chance  in  a  decision  favorable  to  her  claims.  The 
people  of  New  York,  we  are  persuaded,  will  not  ask  that  for 
themselves,  which  they  are  unwilling  to  yield  to  others. 

In  reference  to  the  whole  course  of  legislation  during  the  ses- 
sion, we  are  compelled  to  say,  that,  while  measures  to  promote  the 
public  interest  have  been  either  neglected,  or,  when  pressed  on 
the  attention  of  the  majority,  have  been  shuffled  off  and  evaded ; 
plans  for  the  aggrandizement  of  their  political  friends,  and  for  the 
advantage  of  banks,  and  of  applicants  for  bank-charters,  have 
been  pursued  with  remarkable  industry,  care,  and  vigilance. 
Nine  new  bank  charters  have  been  granted,  two  which  had 
•expired,  have  been  renewed,  and  nine  old  banks  have  been  con- 
tinued, making  twenty  in  the  whole. 

The  safety -fund,  so  much  vaunted  for  the  security  which  it 
promised  to  the  holders  of  the  bills  of  an  insolvent  bank,  by 
enabling  them  instantly  to  receive  the  amount  of  the  demands, 
has  been  assailed,  and  an  effort  has  been  made  to  strip  it  of  the 
peculiar  feature  which  commended  it  to  public  favor.  Instead 
-of  having  money  on  hand  to  redeem  the  bills  of  a  broken  bank, 
it  was  proposed  to  substitute  the  bonds  of  the  banks  themselves, 
secured  by  mortgage  on  their  real  estate.  An  addition  of  five 
hundred  dollars  was  proposed  to  the  salaries  of  the  bank-com- 
missioners, making  the  sum  of  six  thousand  dollars  to  be  paid 
annually  to  those  gentlemen,  out  of  the  fund  set  apart  to  indem- 
nify the  unfortunate  creditor  of  a  broken  bank. 

This  project  passed  the  senate,  but  in  the  assembly,  good  sense 
and  plain  honesty,  for  once  triumphed  over  the  discipline  of 
party,  and  the  influence  of  banks.  Notwithstanding  the  most 
zealous  exertions  of  the  bank-commissioner  speaker,  and  of  the 


34:6  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

satellites  of  the  Mechanics  and  Farmers'  bank,  your  immediate 
representatives  in  the  assembly  rejected  the  bill  by  a  decisive 
vote,  which  should  teach  political  dictators  that  there  are  limits 
to  even  their  power. 

The  same  fate  has  attended  a  resolution,  at  first  incautiously 
adopted,  by  which  a  travelling  committee  of  the  assembly,  to 
consist  of  three  of  its  most  devoted  partisans,  was  to  be  employed 
in  a  vain  effort  to  correct  the  errors  of  the  canal-commissioners, 
and  settle  disputes  between  them  and  others.  Such  an  example 
had  been  recently  furnished,  of  the  expenses  of  such  committees, 
that  the  prudent  and  discreet  members,  even  of  the  dominant 
party,  were  unwilling  to  repeat  the  experiment.  The  resolution 
was  accordingly  reconsidered. 

While  such  care  has  been  taken  of  the  interest  of  political 
friends,  measures  of  the  most  important  character  have  either 
been  defeated,  or  lost  by  intentional  delay,  or  great  neglect.  Nu- 
merous petitions  were  presented  for  a  law  which  should  place 
foreign  creditors  on  the  same  footing  with  our  own  citizens,  in 
respect  to  the  taxation  of  debts  due  them.  These  have  been 
disregarded,  and  nothing  has  been  done  on  the  subject.  A  bill 
to  reduce  the  fees  for  inspecting  flour,  by  which  the  annual 
receipts  of  the  inspector,  amounting  to  more  than  thirteen  thou- 
sand dollars,  would  have  been  confined  to  some  reasonable  limits, 
and  the  manufacturers  of  flour  would  have  been  relieved  to  a 
large  extent — a  bill  on  all  hands  admitted  to  be  just  and  proper 
in  itself — has  been  frustrated  by  the  delay  which  has  been  inten- 
tionally interposed.  You  need  hardly  be  told  that  the  incumbent 
of  the  office,  is  a  political  favorite. 

A  proposed  amendment  to  the  constitution,  giving  to  the 
people  of  the  city  of  New  York,  the  election  of  their  mayor, 
which  was  asked  by  the  common  council  of  the  city,  and  voted 
for  by  every  member  representing  it  in  the  assembly,  was 
several  times  defeated  in  the  senate.  Party  interests  required 
the  application  to  this  case  of  the  rule  that,  "  the  further  power 
is  removed  from  the  people,  the  better."  Fortunately,  the  result 
of  the  late  charter  election  in  New  York,  carried  terror  to  the 
minds  of  the  leaders  of  the  party.  They  perceived  that  any 
further  outrage  on  the  rights  of  the  people  of  that  city,  would 
result  in  the  total  destruction  of  the  party.  By  a  rapid  coun- 
termarch  they   hoped    to    regain    the   ground    they   had    lost; 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  347 

and  they   accordingly  retraced    their  steps,   and   adopted   the 
amendment. 

But  we  should  weary  your  patience  by  recounting  any  further 
details  of  the  omissions  or  the  misdeeds  of  the  majority  that  con- 
trols the  legislature.  It  may  be  truly  said,  that  scarcely  anything- 
has  been  done  calculated  to  advance  the  prosperity  of  the  state, 
to  sustain,  its  interests,  or  to  develop  or  improve  its  resources ; 
while  everything  that  party  drilling  and  discipline  could  accom- 
plish, has  been  done  to  increase  salaries,  to  retain  extravagant 
emoluments,  and  to  provide  for  the  favorites  of  the  party.  The 
whole  system  of  internal  improvement  is  decried  and  discoun- 
tenanced; the  old  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  canals,  which  so  much 
obstructed  their  commencement  and  completion,  is  revived  under 
the  auspices  of  the  same  sectional  influence  which  then  prevailed. 
Of  this  a  strong  illustration  is  furnished  by  the  fact  that  the  legis- 
lation respecting  our  canals,  their  improvement,  their  revenue, 
and  their  regulation,  has,  in  both  houses  of  the  legislature,  been 
committed  to  the  charge  of  chairmen  of  committees  well  known 
for  their  hostility  to  the  whole  system.  The  consequence  has 
been  that  the  whole  power,  on  these  subjects,  has  been  left  where 
it  has  been  placed  for  some  years,  at  the  discretion  of  a  few  exec- 
utive officers  of  the  state.  Such  is  the  general  character  of  the 
legislature  of  the  late  session.  Few  as  we  have  been  in  numbers, 
our  task  has  been  to  arrest  the  wild  career  of  improvidence  and 
prodigality,  and  we  have  the  satisfaction  of  believing  that  we 
have  defeated  many  projects  of  a  party  character,  which  were 
of  the  most  injurious  tendency.  Many  of  these  have  been  already 
noticed  in  the  course  of  these  remarks.  Among  them,  that  of  a 
direct  tax  has  been  arrested,  and  the  officers  of  government  will 
be  compelled  to  exhaust  the  poor  residue  of  the  general  fund  of 
the  state ;  so  that  it  will  no  longer  remain  as  an  excuse  for 
neglect,  or  as  a  motive  for  extravagance. 

We  regret  to  state  that  the  act  by  which  the  government  of  the 
state  assumed  upon  itself  the  prosecution  of  the  murderers  and 
kidnappers  of  William  Morgan,  has  been  suffered  to  expire ;  and 
that  those  prosecutions  are  to  be  in  effect  abandoned,  although 
several  indictments  against  the  worst  offenders,  remain  to  be 
tried.  It  seems  not  to  be  deemed  necessary  any  longer  even  to* 
keep  up  the  farce  which  has  been  playing  for  the  last  year.  It 
will  no  longer  answer  the  purpose  of  deceiving  the  public. 


348  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

The  masonic  institution  and  its  votaries  are  in  high  favor  with 
the  dominant  party,  who  eagerly  embrace  the  most  vindictive 
opponents  of  General  Jackson,  if  they  only  come  recommended 
by  a  strong  adhesion  to  the  mystic  fraternity,  or  by  a  violent 
hatred  to  anti-masonry.  For  ourselves,  we  rejoice  at  this  state  of 
things  ;  we  rejoice  that  the  adhering  members  of  this  dangerous 
institution  are  brought  together  in  one  solid  mass,  that  they  are 
arranged  in  direct  and  distinct  opposition  to  free  inquiry,  and  to 
individual  and  political  independence.  We  rejoice  that  the  ques- 
tion of  masonry  and  anti-masonry  is  thus  presented  fairly  and 
■openly  to  the  people,  stripped  of  all  former  political  names  and 
associations. 

If  virtue  yet  abide  among  us,  if  there  be  intelligence  in  our 
fellow-citizens  to  appreciate  the  dangers  which  threaten  their 
liberty,  and  if  there  be  patriotism  to  resist  and  prevent  them, 
which  we  most  firmly  believe,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  re- 
sult of  such  a  contest.  On  the  one  side  is  an  aristocratic  nobility, 
composed  of  men  bound  together  by  the  most  terrific  oaths, 
which  conflict  with  the  administration  of  justice,  with  private 
rights,  and  with  the  public  security ;  a  privileged  order,  claim- 
ing and  securing  to  its  members  unequal  advantages  over  their 
fellow-citizens,  veiling  its  proceedings  from  scrutiny  by  pledges 
of  secrecy,  collecting  funds  to  unknown  amounts  and  for  un- 
known purposes,  and  operating  through  our  extended  country  at 
any  time  and  on  any  subject,  with  all  the  efficacy  of  perfect 
organization,  controlled  and  directed  by  unseen  and  unknown 
hands.  On  the  other  side,  a  portion  of  your  fellow-citizens  ask 
for  equal  rights  and  equal  privileges  among  the  freemen  of  this 
country.  They  say  it  is  in  vain  that  this  equality  of  rights  and 
privileges  is  secured  in  theory  by  our  constitutions  and  laws,  if, 
by  a  combination  to  subvert  it,  it  is  in  fact  no  longer  enjoyed. 
They  point  you  to  masonic  oaths,  and  to  the  effects  of  those 
dreadful  obligations  upon  our  elections,  upon  witnesses  in  courts 
of  justice,  and  upon  jurors.  They  show  you  one  of  your  citizens 
murdered  under  their  influence,  and  the  offenders  escaping  with 
impunity.  They  exhibit  to  you  the  power  of  your  courts  defied, 
.and  the  administration  of  justice  defeated,  through  the  instrumen- 
tality of  those  obligations.  And  they  ask  you  whether  our  coun- 
try can  any  longer  be  described  as  a  land  "  where  no  man  is  so 
powerful  as  to  be  above  the  law,  and  no  one  so  humble  as  to  be 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  349 

beneath  its  protection."  They  say  to  you  that  no  man  can  tell 
who  will  be  the  next  victim  of  masonic  vengeance,  or  of  masonic 
perjury.  And  they  will  call  on  you  to  put  an  end  to  these  enor- 
mities, and  prevent  their  recurrence,  by  destroying  their  source  ; 
and  for  that  purpose  to  use  the  only  effective  weapon  in  your 
power ;  a  weapon  yet  preserved  to  you,  your  own  free  and  inde- 
pendent ballots.  For  thus  calling  on  you,  they  are  reproached 
with  being  intolerant  and  prescriptive.  For  seeking  to  destroy 
an  institution  which  will  not  tolerate  any  inquiry  into  its  objects, 
its  means,  or  its  obligations,  we  are  intolerant ;  and  for  refusing 
to  vote  for  men  who  have  practically  proscribed  all  who  do  not 
belong  to  their  fraternity,  we  are  called  proscriptive.  For  insist- 
ing on  the  enjoyment  of  equal  rights  and  equal  privileges  with 
them,  we  are  charged  with  denying  to  our  fellow-citizens  equal 
rights. 


ADDKESS  OF  THE  MINOKITY  OF  THE  MEMBEKS  OF 
THE  LEGISLATURE  OF  1834.* 

To  the  People  of  the  State  of  New  York  : 

Fellow-Citizens  :  The  undersigned,  members  of  the  legislaturer 
respectfully  address  you,  in  compliance  with  a  custom  which 
requires  the  representatives  of  the  people,  at  the  close  of  the  ses- 
sion, to  submit  to  their  constituents  their  views  of  the  condition 
of  public  affairs. 

We  are  conscious  that  the  labors  of  the  legislature  have  accom- 
plished very  little  for  the  interests,  the  prosperity,  or  the  honor, 
of  the  state.  Party  spirit  has  been  inexorable  in  its  demands, 
and  party  organization  effective  in  its  action,  upon  the  members. 

In  the  month  of  October  last,  the  president  of  the  United 
States,  in  a  frenzy  of  passion,  deaf  to  the  remonstrances  of  his 
constituent  advisers,  and  yielding  to  the  instigation  of  an  irre- 
sponsible cabal  at  the  seat  of  government,  dismissed  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury,  who  resisted  his  lawless  commands,  and  having 
appointed  a  successor  who  was  willing  to  become  the  instrument 

*  These  addresses  will  be  found  interesting  and  valuable,  as  portions  of  the  po- 
litical history  of  the  times  in  which  they  were  written. — Ed. 


550  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

of  his  designs,  without  right,  without  law,  and  in  derogation  of 
the  constitution,  caused  the  public  moneys  to  be  withdrawn  from 
their  proper  depository,  and  to  be  transferred  to  places  unknown 
to  the  law,  and  subject  to  his  own  control  and  custody. 

A  majority  of  the  members  of  the  legislature  have  assumed 
party  relations  which,  in  their  judgment,  render  it  necessary,  in 
order  to  accomplish  ulterior  political  objects,  to  sustain  the  meas- 
ures of  the  executive,  whether  they  be  right  or  wrong,  legal  or 
illegal,  constitutional  or  unconstitutional,  beneficial  or  ruinous  to 
the  interests  of  the  people.  It  was  evident,  when  the  legislature 
assembled,  that  the  extraordinary  act  of  the  removal  of  the 
deposites  had  excited  universal  alarm  in  the  community  ;  and  it 
was  with  reason  apprehended  that  it  would  be  followed  by  a 
derangement  of  the  currency  disastrous  to  commercial  affairs. 
A  discussion  of  the  president's  reasons  had  commenced  in  both 
houses  of  Congress,  upon  whom  the  responsibility  rested  of 
approving  or  disapproving  the  measure,  and  adopting  such  laws 
as  should  be  necessary  to  secure  the  treasury  and  prevent  the 
anticipated  evils.  It  was  obvious,  that  if  Congress  should  con- 
demn the  conduct  of  the  executive  and  restore  the  public  depos- 
ites, although  such  a  decision  would  be  just  and  expedient,  yet  it 
would  leave  the  president  exposed  to  the  censure  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  and  destroy  the  political  hopes  of  those  who  depended 
on  his  popularity  for  the  continuance  of  their  power. 

To  prevent  such  a  decision  in  Congress,  and  to  sustain  the 
president  at  the  hazard  of  whatever  evils  the  country  might  suf- 
fer, was,  from  the  commencement  of  our  session,  the  great  object 
of  the  majority,  and  that  object  will  account  for  the  extraordinary 
measures  which  they  have  adopted. 

It  was  important  at  an  early  period  to  establish  a  party  test  to 
secure  the  adhesion  of  members.  For  this  purpose,  as  well  as  to 
obtain  what  might  be  represented  in  Congress  and  in  other  states 
as  an  expression  of  popular  opinion  upon  the  conduct  of  the 
executive,  resolutions  were  introduced  at  an  early  day,  approving 
the  removal  of  the  deposites,  and  vaguely,  and  without  the 
shadow  of  truth,  accusing  the  United  States  Bank  of  having  en- 
deavored to  produce  commercial  embarrassment  in  the  country. 
The  undersigned  believed,  that  inasmuch  as  Congress  was  by  the 
constitution  invested  with  exclusive  legislative  power  in  relation 
to  the  treasury,  and  was  responsible  to  the  people  for  its  exer- 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  .      351 

cise,  these  resolutions  were  without  the  sphere  of  the  duties  of 
the  legislature ;  that,  as  concerned  the  members  of  the  legisla- 
ture, no  individuals  in  or  out  of  that  body  have  a  right  to  admin- 
ister a  pafty  test ;  that,  so  far  as  the  resolutions  were  intended  to 
be  used  as  an  expression  of  the  voice  of  the  people  of  this  state, 
we  were  not.  charged  with  any  duty  to  declare  that  voice ;  and 
that  to  assume  to  express  it  while  the  subject  was  yet  under  dis- 
cussion in  Congress,  would  justly  be  regarded  as  an  attempt  to 
forestall  and  falsify  the  opinions  of  the  people,  and  an  unjustifi- 
able interference  between  them  and  their  representatives  in 
Congress.  For  these  reasons,  together  with  our  conviction  of 
the  unconstitutionality  and  inexpediency  of  the  action  which 
the  resolutions  approved,  the  undersigned  recorded  their  votes 
against  them.  The  resolutions  were  passed  by  a  decidedly  party 
vote,  and  with  a  precipitancy  and  disregard  of  legislative  forms 
and  rules,  equally  derogatory  from  the  character  of  the  state,  and 
inconsistent  with  the  momentous  importance  of  the  subject  to 
which  they  related. 

The  resolutions,  however,  proved  ineffectual  to  suppress  the  voice 
of  popular  remonstrance  against  executive  usurpation.  The  uni- 
versal stagnation  of  business,  and  suspension  of  mutual  confidence, 
aroused  the  people  to  a  rigorous  examination  into  the  connection 
between  these  evils  and  the  removal  of  the  deposites.  It  was 
discovered  that  a  great  revolution  in  public  opinion  had  com- 
menced, and  that  some  measure  must  be  adopted  to  stay  its 
progress.  It  had  now  become  still  more  impossible  for  the  exec- 
utive to  retract,  and  all  political  hopes  of  his  partisans  would  be 
blasted  if  Congress  should,  in  the  only  possible  way,  afford  relief. 
It  was  therefore  determined  that  the  legislature  of  this  state 
should  again  come  to  the  rescue  of  the  administration.  The 
majority  did  not  hesitate.  They  turned  to  the  state  treasury  for 
the  means  to  support  the  president  in  his  warfare  against  the 
business  of  the  country,  but  it  was  already  exhausted.  The 
credit  of  the  state  yet  remained  unimpaired,  and  the  individual 
property  of  its  citizens  was  unencumbered  by  public  securities. 
Of  that  credit  and  property  they  recklessly  determined  to  avail 
themselves.  Having,  until  that  moment,  pertinaciously  denied 
the  existence  of  the  pressure  which  it  now  became  necessary  to 
profess  to  relieve,  and  compelled  by  the  resolutions  to  deny  the 
true  cause  of  the  pressure,  they  now  alleged,  in  labored  docu- 


352  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

ments  which  they  caused  to  be  widely  disseminated,  that  a  pres 
sure  was  likely  to  be  produced  by  the  hostile  action  of  the 
United  States  bank  during  the  recess  of  the  legislature !  Under 
the  pretence  of  preparing  to  resist  this  hostility,  they  adopted  the 
bold  and  unprecedented  measure  of  authorizing  the  state  officers 
in  this  city  to  borrow  the  enormous  sum  of  six  millions  of  dollars 
on  the  credit  of  the  state ;  four  millions  of  which  sum  are  to  be 
loaned  to  banks  in  the  city  of  ISTew  York,  and  the  remainder  to 
individuals  in  other  counties.  For  the  sum  of  four  millions,  to 
be  loaned  to  the  banks,  the  credit  of  the  state  is  pledged ;  and 
the  loans  to  individuals  are  by  law  declared  to  be  a  lien,  not 
only  upon  the  lands  of  those  who  shall  be  the  borrowers,  but 
upon  the  real  and  personal  estate  of  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
county  in  which  the  borrowers  shall  reside ! 

It  is  not  our  intention  here  to  discuss  the  constitutionality  or 
expediency  of  this  measure.  It  was  unanimously  opposed  by  us 
for  reasons  which,  as  well  as  those  of  the  majority  in  favor  of  it, 
have  been  already  submitted  to  the  people.  Let  it  suffice  to  say, 
that  we  regarded  any  present  or  future  necessity  for  legislative 
relief  as  proceeding  solely  from  the  ill-advised  and  ruinous  policy 
of  the  administration  of  the  general  government :  that  in  our 
opinion,  if  that  policy  should  be  abandoned,  confidence  could 
return  and  prosperity  be  restored :  and  if  that  policy  should  not 
be  abandoned,  neither  the  measure  in  question,  nor  any  other 
which  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  state  legislature  to  adopt,  would 
be  adequate  to  the  relief  of  the  community :  that,  even  if  its 
efficiency  should  be  equal  to  the  exigency,  there  is  no  obliga- 
tion resting  upon  the  people  of  this  state  to  bear  all  the  loss, 
risk,  and  expense,  of  the  partisan  warfare  of  the  administra- 
tion :  that,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  it  is  the  consummation 
of  improvidence  to  lend  four  millions  of  dollars  to  banks  already 
indebted  to  the  state  two  and  a  half  millions,  which,  they  are  at 
this  moment  confessedly  unable  to  pay ;  that  it  is,  if  not  abso- 
lutely unconstitutional,  a  palpable  abuse  of  legislative  powers,  to 
tax  the  people  of  this  state  to  raise  funds  to  be  loaned  at  a  profit 
to  individuals  and  to  banking  institutions,  the  establishment  of 
which  can  only  be  excused  on  the  ground  that  they  will  relieve 
and  sustain  the  country,  not  exhaust  its  resources  and  embarrass 
its  credit ;  and  finally,  that  this  immense  sum  can  not  be  thus 
raised  and  loaned  without  being  converted  into  the  means  ot 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  353 

carrying  on  a  system  of  political  corruption,  at  war  with  every 
principle  of  republican  government,  and  dangerous  to  our  insti- 
tutions. 

Nevertheless,  the  majority  in  the  legislature  calculated  that, 
however  inadequate  this  mockery  of  relief  might  prove  to  restore 
confidence  and  recall  the  prosperity  of  the  country,  it  would 
allay  the  discontent  of  the  people ;  and  it  was  therefore  passed 
by  a  decided  party  vote,  and  with  a  degree  of  precipitancy  and 
recklessness  strongly  indicative  of  the  desperation  under  which 
they  acted. 

Although  this  odious  mortgage  of  the  state  of  New  York  has 
not  yet  been  delivered,  it  has  been  solemnly  sealed  and  recorded. 
We  hope  that  the  unequivocal  disapprobation  of  the  measure 
everywhere  expressed,  may  deter  those  who  hold  it  from  deliver- 
ing it  oyer  to  British  capitalists,  for  whom  it  was  made.  It  is 
respectfully  submitted  to  you  whether  the  next  legislature  shall 
not  bear  your  express  commands  to  repeal  the  law,  if  it  shall  not 
have  been  carried  into  operation ;  and  if  it  shall  have  been,  then 
to  cause  the  debt  incurred  to  be  immediately  paid,  and  the  in- 
cumbrance to  be  discharged  of  record.  A  fearful  apprehension 
of  the  loss  of  political  power,  and  the  consequent  distrust  of  the 
people,  have  been  distinguishing  characteristics  of  the  legislation, 
of  the  session.  The  treasurers  of  counties  are  very  properly  ap- 
pointed by  the  supervisors,  to  whom  they  are  accountable,  and 
who  themselves  are  responsible  to  the  people.  The  result  of 
many  of  the  town  meetings  gave  majorities  in  the  board  of  su- 
pervisors adverse  to  the  administration.  As  soon  as  this  fact 
was  known,  a  bill  was  promptly  passed  in  the  assembly  requiring, 
the  judges  of  the  county  courts  to  be  associated  with  the  super 
visors  in  the  appointment  of  county  treasurers. 

A  city  charter  has  been  granted  to  the  city  of  Kochester,  with 
the  restriction  that  the  justices  of  the  peace  shall  be  appointed  by 
the  common  council ;  but,  in  order  to  retain  the  balance  of  power 
in  the  council,  the  recorder,  who  is  appointed  by  the  governor  and 
senate,  is  made  ex-officio  a  member.  The  majority  of  members 
in  the  common  council  of  the  city  of  Albany  are  partisans  of  the 
administration.  Being  unwilling  to  submit  to  a  re-election  during 
the  present  year,  they  applied  to  the  legislature  and  obtained  a 
law  continuing  them  in  office  from  the  last  Tuesday  in  Septem- 
ber, 1834,  until  the  first  Tuesday  in  May,  1835,  in  express  viola- 

Yol.  in.— 23 


354:  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

tion  of  the  charter  of  the  city  and  the  constitution  of  the  state 
which  secures  to  the  people  the  right  of  electing  those  officers. 
While  no  important  measures  of  public  policy  or  improvement 
have  been  adopted,  the  legislation  of  the  session  has  exhibited  an 
astonishing  degree  of  recklessness  in  relation  to  the  financial 
interests  of  the  state.  A  bill,  at  the  last  session  of  Congress, 
passed  both  houses,  appropriating  to  the  several  states,  for  a  term 
of  years,  the  avails  of  the  sale  of  public  lands,  the  common  prop- 
erty of  the  United  States.  The  interest  of  this  state  in  this  great 
patrimony  exceeds  the  cost  of  the  Erie  canal,  and  its  annual  share 
of  the  appropriation  exceeded  $500,000.  The  president  of  the 
United  States  refused  his  assent  to  the  bill,  upon  the  ground, 
among  other  reasons,  that  the  whole  domain  ought  to  be  given  to 
the  new  states  within  which  it  lies.  It  must  have  astonished  you 
to  learn,  that  without  one  word  of  debate,  or  a  single  reason  as- 
signed, without  even  printing  or  reading  the  president's  veto,  the 
house  of  assembly,  by  a  party  vote,  approved  of  the  rejection  of 
this  bill  and  the  president's  reasons  for  its  rejection.  This  vote 
of  the  assembly  can  be  regarded  in  no  other  view  than  expressing 
their  willingness  by  this  gratuity  of  the  wealth  of  the  state,  to 
purchase  the  votes  of  the  new  western  states  for  their  favorite 
candidate  for  the  presidency.  Fellow-citizens,  are  we  so  degra- 
ded and  so  base,  that  we  are  compelled  thus  to  purchase  the  po- 
litical power  to  which  the  state  of  New  York  is  entitled  to  the 
Union  ?  Let  the  state  banish  from  its  councils  at  home,  and 
recall  from  the  national  legislature  her  unworthy  representatives, 
who  could  thus  make  bargain  and  sale  of  political  power ;  let  her 
interest  be  committed  to  the  keeping  of  faithful  and  patriotic 
citizens,  and  the  influence  which  we  seek  will  be  accorded  to  us 
by  the  spontaneous  action  of  the  people  of  the  United  States. 

The  condition  of  the  state  treasury  imperiously  demands  re- 
form. Our  general  fund  is  now  reduced  to  the  sum  of  about 
$190,000,  while  it  is  charged  with  a  debt  of  more  than  $600,000. 
To  which  is  to  be  added  the  expenditures  of  the  current  year, 
amounting  to  about  $300,000.  Thus  year  after  year  our  legis- 
lature continues  to  diminish  the  resources  of  the  treasury  and 
swell-  the  indebtedness  of  the  state  to  be  discharged  in  the  end  by 
direct  taxation. 

Every  year  the  legislature  shrink  from  the  responsibility  of 
adopting  any  measure  to  replenish  the  treasury  and  make  up  de- 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  355 

ficiencies  of  revenue,  by  borrowing  from  funds  inviolably  pledged 
by  the  constitution  to  the  institutions  for  education  and  literature. 
Fellow-citizens,  the  signs  of  the  times  indicate  that  a  great  revo- 
lution in  popular  opinion  has  commenced.  The  alarming  usur- 
pations of  the  executive  of  the  United  States  have  produced  a 
reaction.  A  mighty  effort — we  trust  a  successful  effort — has 
commenced  to  restore  the  supremacy  of  the  constitution  and  the 
laws. 

The  period  is  propitious  to  the  exertion  to  effect  a  radical  ref- 
ormation in  the  administration  of  the  government  of  this  state. 
Those  who  have  impoverished  our  treasury,  mortgaged  our  soil, 
and  degraded  the  character  of  the  state,  stand  or  fall  with  the 
executive  who  has  usurped  the  legislative  and  judicial  powers 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States.  The  time  has  come 
when  it  must  be  decided  for  ourselves  and  for  posterity,  whether 
this  government  shall  continue  to  be  a  republic  in  fact  as  well  as 
in  name,  or  whether  it  shall  be  converted  into  a  monarchy,  with 
the  form  only  of  popular  power. 


356  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 


THE  TKUE   ISSUE. 

AUBURN,    FEBRUARY    13,    1888. 

The  act  of  the  last  session  of  the  legislature,  authorizing  the 
suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks  of  this  state,  was 
approved  and  acquiesced  in  by  all  parties,  without  important 
exception,  as  a  necessary  though  humiliating  measure  of  both 
security  and  relief.  It  has  not  been  more  fully  proved  since  the 
passage  of  that  act,  than  it  was  foreseen  at  the  time  of  its  enact- 
ment, that  the  following  results  must  happen :  — 

1.  That  the  specie  then  in  full  circulation  would  be  withdrawn 
from  its  accustomed  use. 

2.  That  the  place  of  the  specie  to  be  withdrawn  (being  the  en- 
tire amount  of  money  in  circulation  in  sums  less  than  five  dollars) 
must  be  supplied  by  a  paper-currency  of  some  kind. 

3.  That  the  law  of  1835,  which  prohibits  the  issue  of  small 
bills  by  our  banks,  remaining  unrepealed,  there  would  be  no 
alternative  for  the  people  but  the  use  of  small  bills  to  be  issued 
in  violation  of  law  by  individuals  or  corporate  bodies  in  this 
state,  or  the  similar  notes  of  banks  in  other  states. 

The  evils  thus  to  be  produced  were  — 

1.  The  demoralizing  operation  of  a  system  of  law  which  cre- 
ates an  offence,  and  yet  compels  the  entire  mass  of  citizens  to  the 
daily  commission  of  the  offence  prohibited. 

2.  That  in  the  absence  of  any  legal  currency  in  small  sums,  the 
people  would  be  driven  to  the  use  of  a  currency  always  sus- 
pected and  depreciated,  and  often  spurious  and  valueless. 

3.  That  these  evils  would  immeasurably  aggravate  the  perplex- 
ities and  embarrassments  already  intolerable  in  the  transaction 
of  business. 

Note. — Address  adopted  by  the  citizens  of  Auburn  opposed  to  the  law  which  pro- 
hibited the  issue  of  bills  of  less  denomination  than  five  dollars  by  the  banks  of  this 
state.— Ed. 


THE  TRUE  ISSUE  357 

.  Foreseeing  these  evils,  efforts  were  made  by  the  minority,  in 
the  legislature  of  1837,  to  repeal  the  law  of  1835 ;  and  when  it 
was  found  that  this  measure  could  upon  no  consideration  gain 
the  assent  of  the  administration,  then  having  a  majority  in  both 
houses,  the  minority  moved  a  suspension  of  the  law  of  1835, 
to  continue  during  the  suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the 
banks. 

Reasonable  as  these  propositions  were  in  both  forms,  indispen- 
sable as  one  or  the  other  was,  and  conciliatory  and  submissive  as 
the  latter  was,  it  was  nevertheless  rejected. 

Then,  according  to  the  theory  and  accustomed  operation  of  our 
political  system,  an  issue  was  joined  between  the  minority  and 
the  majority  upon  the  rejected  measure,  and  sent  down,  with 
other  and  kindred  issues,  to  be  tried  at  the  elections.  The  result 
was,  that  of  eight  senators  elected,  six  entered  the  senate  imbued 
with  the  popular  conviction  that  the  law  of  1835  ought  to  be 
immediately  repealed ;  and  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight 
members  of  assembly,  one  hundred  repaired  to  the  capitol  pre- 
pared promptly  to  carry  that  measure  into  effect.  The  result 
exhibited  one  of  the  most  astounding  political  revolutions  that 
ever  occurred  in  this  or  any  other  free  country.  The  aggregate 
majority  of  votes  in  favor  of  the  people  against  the  administra- 
tion wns  sixteen  thousand,  and  the  aggregate  of  population  rep- 
resented in  the  assembly  by  the  opposition  was  one  million,  seven 
hundred  and  twenty-three  thousand,  while  that  represented  by 
the  friends  of  the  administration  was  four  hundred  and  fifty-one 
thousand. 

Accustomed  as  the  people  have  been  to  hear  from  the  organs 
and  representatives  of  the  administration,  while  it  was  in  a  ma- 
jority, language  of  unqualified  respect  and  unconditional  submis- 
sion to  the  popular  will,  they  looked  without  distrust  to  the  legisla- 
ture for  the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  law.  Nor  could  they  believe 
that  honorable  men  could  so  far  forget  their  respect  to  consis- 
tency, or  reluctant  public  servants  so  much  undervalue  the  intel- 
ligence of  the  people,  as  to  seek  to  evade  the  popular  will,  fully 
and  unequivocally  expressed.  What  was  their  astonishment, 
then,  when  they  saw  that  the  president  of  the  United  States,  in 
his  annual  message  to  Congress,  prepared  the  way  for  such  an 
evasion  by  his  followers,  by  an  insulting  insinuation  that  the 
electors  of  his  native  state  had  been  corrupted,  and  that  the  chief 


358  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

magistrate  of  this  state  had  not  learned  when  the  legislature  as- 
sembled that  any  expression  of  the  popular  will  in  relation  to  the 
law  in  question  had  been  made,  or  indeed  that  there  was  any 
inconvenience  resulting  from  its  operation !  After  this  insolent 
language  of  the  president  of  the  United  States,  and  this  scarcely 
less  insulting  silence  of  the  governor  of  this  state,  it  was  by  no 
means  astonishing  that  the  administration  members  of  the  legis- 
lature affected  to  doubt  whether  the  repeal  of  the  law  of  1835 
had  been  at  all  agitated  in  the  recent  elections.  This  unworthy 
pretence,  however,  was  destined  to  very  brief  duration.  "Within 
the  first  five  weeks  of  the  session,  the  tables  of  the  legislature 
were  made  to  groan  under  the  petitions  of  fifty  thousand  electors 
for  the  absolute  repeal  of  the  law  of  1835,  while  less  than  as 
many  hundreds  resisted  the  demand  or  presented  it  in  any  modi- 
fied form. 

The  assembly,  with  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  majority,  prompt- 
ly answered  this  loud  and  unequivocal  demand  in  just  its  latitude, 
granting  no  more  and  no  less,  by  passing,  with  the  utmost  de- 
spatch, consistent  with  the  liberty  of  debate  due  to  the  dissenting 
minority,  a  bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  law  of  1835. 

Such  was  the  action  of  the  assembly.  And  the  question  is  now 
submitted,  'Had  it  been  less  prompt,  less  decisive,  less  complete, 
or  less  extensive,  would  not  that  body  have  justly  incurred  the 
reproach  of  hesitation,  pusillanimity,  and  even  treachery  to  the 
people  V  The  assembly's  bill  was  hailed  on  its  way  to  the  sen- 
ate with  the  approbation  of  nineteen  twentieths  of  the  people  of 
the  state,  without  distinction  of  parties,  and  was  regarded  as  the 
harbinger  of  better  fortune  for  a  suffering  community. 

Had  the  senate  been  equally  sincere  in  its  desire  to  grant  re- 
lief, what  would  have  been  its  action  ?  A  day,  or  five  days,  or  a 
week,  would  have  sufficed  for  the  legislative  debate,  if  any  were 
required  by  senators  conscientiously  opposed  to  the  bill.  After 
this  brief  season  had  been  added  to  the  duration  of  an  insuffera- 
ble evil,  the  bill  would  have  been  passed  in  all  its  fair  propor- 
tions, and  sent  to  the  governor  for  his  signature.  Thus  would 
the  complaint  of  the  people  have  entered  the  executive  chamber 
in  a  manner  and  under  auspices  which  would  have  commanded 
executive  attention,  and  long  before  this  time  the  bill  would  have- 
become  a  law. 

What,  then,  would  have  been  the  consequences  ? 


THE  TRUE  ISSUE  359 

1.  The  odious  law,  which  subjects  citizens  guilty  of  an  una- 
voidable offence  to  punishment,  would  have  ceased  to  disgrace 
the  statute-book. 

2.  The  inconveniences,  losses,  and  embarrassments,  of  a  depre- 
ciated and  worthless  currency  would  have  been  removed  by  the 
substitution  of  a  sound,  well-known,  and  uniform  currency,  to  the 
extent  of  the  present  circulation  of  small  bills. 

3.  The  banks,  having  begun  to  issue  small  bills,  and  having 
found  public  confidence  revive,  would  have  already  resumed 
specie  payments,  or  have  fixed  a  day  for  that  purpose ;  hundreds 
who  have  since  been  swept  before  the  storm  would  have  been 
saved  ;  and  the  suspended  functions  of  our  business-system  would 
have  been  quickened  into  life. 

Such  might  and  ought  to  have  been  the  action  of  the  senate, 
and  such  would  have  been  its  benign  results.  Let  us  turn  now 
to  the  journal  of  the  senate,  and  see  what  it  has  been.  Five 
weeks'  delay  was  permitted,  during  the  greater  part  of  which 
period  the  bill  reposed  on  the  table  of  the  senate  or  that  of  its 
committee,  while  other  and  comparatively  unimportant  subjects 
occupied  the  attention  of  that  honorable  body,  and  the  remainder 
of  that  precious  time  was  consumed  by  members  who  sympa- 
thized with  the  public  enemy  in  1812,  in  harangues  designed  to 
demonstrate  the  horror  they  now  indulge  at  the  very  recollection 
of  the  Hartford  convention  ! 

After  this  cruel  delay,  the  senate  sent  to  the  assembly  what  in 
legislative  language  was  falsely  called  the  assembly's  bill.  Its 
title,  "  An  act  to  repeal  the  law  of  1835,"  was  expunged,  and  iii 
its  stead  was  substituted  the  miserable  and  suspicious  caption, 
"  An  act  in  relation  to  small  bills."  The  repealing  provision  was 
stricken  out,  and  in  its  stead  was  inserted  an  enactment  in  sub- 
stance that  the  banks  might  at  their  pleasure  issue  small  bills 
during  two  years,  provided  they  should  redeem  such  bills  in  spe- 
cie on  demand  under  the  penalty  of  a  forfeiture  of  their  charters. 

The  bill  whose  mutilation  and  transformation  had  so  worthily 
employed  the  labors  of  its  thirty-two  conscript  stepfathers  during 
five  weeks  of  public  suffering,  received  a  prompt,  firm,  and  dig- 
nified rejection  in  the  assembly,  which  it  deserved,  and  which  it 
is  but  too  apparent  the  senate  anticipated.  The  senate  has  re- 
solved to  adhere  to  its  modifications  of  the  bill ;  and  thus,  after 
the  idle  form  of  a  conference,  with  the  intent  to  disagree,  the  bill 


360  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

will  have  failed,  and  the  intense  and  righteous  expectation  of  the 
people  will  have  been  disappointed. 

If  this  history  of  the  senate's  action  has  left  any  doubt,  a  very 
brief  examination  of  its  substitute  for  the  assembly's  bill  will 
produce  an  unhesitating  conviction  that  the  senate  has  been 
guilty  of  a  deliberate  and  cruel  attempt  to  defeat,  by  indirection, 
the  measure  which  it  no  longer  dares  openly  resist;  to  pretend  a 
compliance  with  the  popular  will  which  it  obstinately  refuses ; 
and  to  palm  upon  the  people  a  bill  plausibly  constructed,  carry- 
ing the  aspect  of  relief,  but  intended  to  prove  a  bitter  mockery. 

The  senate  refuses  to  repeal  the  law  of  1835,  because  it  asserts 
that  the  operation  of  that  act  will  not  be  ojrpressive  or  injurious 
after  the  resumption  of  specie  payments ;  and  it  is  earnestly  de- 
sirous, after  that  event,  to  conduct  us  back  into  the  enjoyment  of 
golden  and  glorious  dreams  of  a  "better"  and  "improved"  but 
no  longer  "a  purely  metallic  currency."  But  if  the  relief  will 
not  be  necessary  after  the  resumption,  how  does  it  happen  that 
the  senate  proposes  an  unnecessary  prolongation  of  it  twenty-one 
months,  only  to  render  our  return  to  the  Bentonian  system  more 
embarrassing  and  more  ruinous? 

But  the  senate  professes  itself  satisfied  that  the  suspension  of 
the  law  of  1835  may  —  and  for  the  public  convenience  ought  to 
—  continue  two  years.  Why,  then,  does  it  not  pass  the  assem- 
bly's bill?  The  greater  includes  the  lass.  If,  at  the  expiration 
of  two  years,  the  public  convenience  shall  permit,  or  the  public 
good  require,  the  restoration  of  the  law,  will  there  not  then  be  a 
senate,  an  assembly,  and  governor,  competent  to  re-enact  it? 

But  the  pertinacious  adherence  of  the  senate  to  the  suspension 
in  preference  to  a  repeal. —  when,  according  to  their  professions, 
it  is,  as  a  measure  of  relief,  equivalent  to  a  repeal  —  excites  vehe- 
ment suspicion  that  it  is  not  equivalent,  or,  in  other  words,  that 
ii  is  inadequate  to  the  relief  demanded.  We  proceed  to  show 
briefly  that  such  is  the  fact.        9 

Let  it  be  remembered  that,  wasteful  of  time  as  the  senate  has 
been,  the  object  of  the  bill  in  question  is  immediate  as  well  as 
future  relief — relief  instant  as  well  as  relief  for  two  years,  or 
indefinite. 

Let  it  be  further  understood  that  the  senate  does  not  enact  that 
the  banks  shall  issue  small  notes  and  shall  redeem  them  in  spe- 
cie, but  it  enacts  that  they  may,  during  two  years,  issue  small 


THE  TRUE  ISSUE.  361 

notes ;  and  if  they  do  issue  small  notes,  they  shall  redeem  them 
in  specie,  under  the  penalty  of  the  forfeiture  of  their  charters : 
thus  leaving  it  optional  with  the  banks  to  issue  them  or  not. 

Now  the  banks  ought  to  redeem  their  notes,  large  and  small, 
in  specie,  if  they  are  able  to  do  so.  Either  the  banks  are  able  to 
redeem,  or  they  are  not.  If  they  are  able  to  redeem,  the  legisla- 
ture ought  to  repeal  the  suspension-law  which  excuses  them  from 
doing  so,  instead  of  giving  them  the  option  to  issue  small  notes 
to  be  redeemed  in  specie. 

If  the  banks  are  not  able  to  redeem,  and  such  must  be  assumed 
as  the  fact  (since  the  senate  does  not  propose  to  repeal  the  sus- 
pension-law), can  a  greater  mockery  be  conceived  than  the  sen- 
ate's bill,  authorizing  the  banks  to  call  in  a  part  of  their  circula- 
tion which  they  are  not  required  to  redeem,  and  to  issue  in  its 
place  an  equal  amount  which  they  will  be  obliged  to  redeem? 
Who  does  not  see  that  the  petitions  of  the  people  are  thus  virtu- 
ally referred  by  the  senate  to  the  banks,  and,  what  is  worse,  are 
referred  with  restrictions  and  clogs  which  render  the  refusal  of 
the  banks  certain,  imperative,  and  inevitable  ?  Such  evasion  is 
not  more  unworthy  of  the  senate  of  this  great  state  than  it  is 
insulting  and  offensive  to  the  people. 

It  is  alleged  that  the  assembly's  bill  proposes  an  increase  of 
circulation  not  redeemable  in  specie,  while  the  senate's  bill  pro- 
poses an  increase  of  specie  in  circulation.  The  falsehood  of  this 
subterfuge  is  apparent  from  the  facts  — 

1.  That  neither  bill  proposes  nor  authorizes-  any  increase  of 
paper  issues  —  the  amount  of  bank  issues  allowed  by  law  being 
in  all  cases  the  same;  and  the  only  question  being  this,  whether 
the  whole  shall  be  in  bills  of  the  denomination  of  five  dollars  or 
more,  or  a  portion  shall  be  of  a  smaller  denomination  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  people. 

2.  That  the  assembly's  bill  does  not  propose  an  irredeemable 
circulation,  because,  after  the  16th  day  of  May  next,  all  the  bills, 
whether  greater  than  five  dollars  or  less,  will  be  by  law  abso- 
lutely redeemable  in  specie  under  the  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  the 
charters  of  the  banks. 

Fellow-citizens,  we  have  endeavored  to  place  before  you  the 
true  issue  between  the  assembly  and  the  senate,  between  the 
people  and  the  administration,  on  the  repeal  of  the  law  of  1835. 
It  is  submitted  to  your  dispassionate  judgment.     The  system  of 


362  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

confidence  and  credit,  established  in  this  country  in  its  infancy, 
and  gradually  improved  and  extended  with  its  growth,  has  been 
among  the  principal  causes  of  our  national  prosperity.  Its  oper- 
ations have  not  been  confined  to  cities  and  towns,  or  to  any  par- 
ticular region  of  the  country,  or  to  the  commercial  interests,  or 
those  of  any  other  portion  of  the  people.  It  has  given  life  to  the 
manufacturing  interests,  and  imparted  vigor  unparalleled  in  the 
history  of  the  world  to  the  agricultural  operations  of  our  people, 
and  has  crowned  them  with  success — not  merely  in  the  older 
and  more  improved  territory,  but  in  that  which  is  most  new  and 
recently  cultivated.  It  has  been  through  its  agency  that  our 
canals  and  railroads  have  been  made ;  our  colleges,  academies, 
and  common  schools,  founded  and  endowed ;  our  cities  and  vil- 
lages called  into  existence  and  enlarged ;  our  farms  improved, 
and  our  forests  subdued ;  our  peace  and  power  perfected ;  our 
flag  caused  to  be  respected,  and  our  name  honored,  throughout 
the  earth.  This  credit-system  was  in  full  and  successful  opera- 
tion until  it  was  assailed  in  every  point  by  the  administration, 
and  fell  prostrate  beneath  the  parricidal  blows  of  our  government. 
For  this  evil,  and  all  the  train  which  have  followed  it,  the  ad- 
ministration is  justly  responsible.  Against  that  system  the  ad- 
ministration has  declared  open  war.  The  sub-treasury  system, 
and  the  defeat  of  the  small-bill  law,  are  but  incidents  in  this 
inveterate  warfare.  The  prosperity  of  the  country  can  not  be 
restored  until  that  war  is  closed  by  the  triumph  of  the  people 
over  their  oppressors. 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  363 


ADDKESS  OF  THE  WHIG  MEMBERS  OF  THE  LEGIS- 
LATURE OF  1844.* 

Fellow-Citizens:  We,  the  democratic  whig  members  of  the 
legislature,  according  to  usage,  respectfully  submit  an  account 
of  our  stewardship. 

Our  number  in  the  senate  is  six,  in  the  assembly  thirty-sixr 
while  the  chief-magistrate,  the  lieutenant-governor,  all  the  admin- 
istrative officers,  and  one  hundred  and  eighteen  members,  are 
representatives  of  the  opposition.  We  need  not  say  how  imprac- 
ticable it  has  been  for  us,  borne  down,  and  over-ridden  by  such 
overwhelming  majorities,  to  restore  the  policy,  or  adopt  the 
measures,  to  which  you  and  we,  are  alike  attached.  Although, 
on  a  few  occasions,  we  have  succeeded  in  awakening  the  sense 
of  justice  of  our  opponents,  and  in  calling  to  our  aid  a  sufficiency 
of  their  numbers  to  defeat,  or  thwart  the  destructive  ends  of  their 
leaders,  yet  for  the  most  part,  our  services  have  necessarily  been 
advisory,  and  preventive,  rather  than  direct,  or  effective.  The  ma- 
jority have  been  so  divided,  that  the  session  has  been  consumed, 
rather  in  efforts  of  the  respective  factions  to  baffle  and  defeat 
each  other,  than  in  maturing  measures  for  the  general  welfare. 
.  It  is  not  easy  to  describe  these  factions  with  perfect  accuracy, 
though  if  the  account  each  gave  of  the  other  were  received,  it 
would  appear  that  neither  seeks  the  public  good,  nor  deserves 
the  public  confidence. 

It  was  hoped,  and  very  generally  expected,  that  the  present 
executivef  would  devise  and  carry  into  effect,  some  comprehen- 
sive scheme  to  secure  the  completion  of  the  public  works,  with- 
out unnecessary  burdens,  without  delay,  and  without  public 
sacrifices.     But  he  who,  as  a  canal  commissioner,  was  so  efficient 

*  As  before  stated,  Governor.  Seward  was  often  called  upon  to  prepare  the  annual 
legislative  address,  as  in  this  instance,  after  he  had  retired  from  the  executive  chair 
f  Governor  Bouck. 


364  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

in  inducing  the  commencement  and  vigorous  prosecution  of  tne 
present  suspended  canals,  from  1836  to  1839,  upon  the  existing 
and  prospective  revenues  of  such  works  alone,  now  in  a  season  of 
returning  prosperity  and  confidence,  with  the  addition  of  direct 
taxes,  amounting  to  six  hundred  thousand  dollars  annually,  limits 
his  advocacy  of  those  great  improvements,  to  suggestions  that  an 
unfinished  bridge  might,  perhaps,  be  completed,  under  the  head 
of  repairs  of  dilapidated  structures,  while  he  would  effectually 
prevent  their  resumption,  by  recommending  such  an  amendment 
of  the  constitution,  as  would  require  the  vote  of  two  thirds  of  the 
legislature  for  every  appropriation  of  public  money,  except  for 
the  public  defence. 

A  policy  so  retrograde,  timorous,  and  imbecile,  as  this,  might 
have  been  expected  to  conciliate  the  most  factious  assailants  of  pub- 
lic credit  and  public  enterprise.  But  such  has  not  been  the  case. 
The  officers  of  the  fiscal  administration,  and  their  leaders  in  the 
house  of  assembly,  discarded  the  governor  from  their  confidence, 
as  a  chimerical  projector  of  schemes  of  debt  and  speculation,  and 
denounced  his  suggested  amendments,  as  a  device  to  deceive  the 
people,  and  mislead  them  into  measures  of  ruinous  expenditure. 
Thus  a  session  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-seven  days  has  passed, 
distinguished  by  no  act  calculated,  in  any  considerable  degree, 
to  establish  returning  prosperity,  or  to  fortify  the  foundations,  or 
improve  the  superstructure  of  our  republican  institutions. 

Convinced  that  the  whig  party,  and  the  whig  party  only,  can 
be  relied  upon  to  disembarrass  the  public  finances,  to  save  the 
people  from  the  ruinous  sacrifices  which  have  marked  the  brief 
ascendency  of  the  party  in  power,  and  restore  the  healthful  tone 
of  public  credit  and  confidence,  complete  what  ought  to  be  com- 
pleted of  the  public  works,  and  save  the  state  from  the  anarchy 
into  which  it  would  be  plunged  by  the  mad  contentions  of  our 
opponents,  we  are  satisfied  that  our  time  has  not  been  misspent, 
nor  our  labors  unfruitful,  if,  as  we  hope,  we  have  been  successful 
in  vindicating  the  principles  and  policy  which  prevailed  while 
the  whig  party  was  in  power.  We  have,  as  occasion  offered,  in 
reports  and  speeches,  shown  by  incontrovertible  proofs,  that 
during  that  period,  economy  was  introduced  into  public  affairs; 
executive,  judicial,  and  administrative  patronage,  were  wisely 
abridged ;  delays  and  expenses  in  the  administration  of  justice 
corrected ;    agriculture  fostered ;   universal  education  cherished 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  36» 

and  promoted,  as  is  necessary,  where  universal  suffrage  is  des- 
tined to  prevail ;  the  public  faith  maintained ;  the  dignity  and 
independence  of  the  state  preserved ;  and  the  highest  principles 
of  equality,  of  civil  liberty,  and  of  humanity,  defended  and  vin- 
dicated. 

We  have  shown  that,  with  the  exception  of  four  millions 
seventy-five  thousand  dollars,  the  whole  public  debt,  amounting- 
to  twenty-three,  twenty-seven,  or  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  more 
or  less,  as  the  dominant  party  variously  and  capriciously  state  itr 
originated  with  the  party  now  in  power ;  and  that  any  departure 
that  has  been  made  from  a  sound  system  of  finance,  was  made  by 
them,  and  them  alone,  while,  had  they  adhered  to  and  sustained 
the  whig  system,  the  unfinished  public  works  would  now  have 
been  nearly  completed,  no  damages  for  broken  contracts  would 
have  occurred,  no  considerable  depreciation  of  state  credit  would 
have  happened ;  taxation  would  have  been  avoided,  and  increas- 
ing resources  would  have  been  flowing  into  the  treasury  with 
such  constant  accumulation,  as  to  have  secured  the  extinguish- 
ment of  the  public  debt  as  soon,  at  least,  as  is  now  promised 
under  the  present  absurd  and  oppressive  system  of  finance.  In 
the  review  which  has  been  made  of  the  past,  it  has  appeared,  and 
is  now  admitted,  that  only  four  millions  seventy-five  thousand 
dollars  of  the  whole  public  debt  was  borrowed  by  the  whig 
administration,  and  that  of  this  sum,  four  millions  were  expended 
on  the  public  works  devolved  on  that  administration  by  their 
predecessors,  and  more  than  three  millions  in  performing  con- 
tracts actually  made  by  those  predecessors. 

In  the  darkest  hour  the  state  has  ever  seen,  the  whigs  per- 
formed every  contract  without  taxation.  Their  successors,  with 
the  aid  of  a  tax  of  six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  have  broken 
contracts,  on  which  they  have  already  subjected  the  state  to 
eight  hundred  thousand  dollars  of  damages,  and  the  future  aggre- 
gate of  this  ruinous  expenditure  can  not  yet  be  conceived. 

Fellow-citizens,  we  would,  if  we  could,  state  the  policy  of  the 
present  administration  in  regard  to  finance  and  the  public  works. 
But,  in  truth,  no  policy  exists.  The  majority  unanimously  agree 
that  the  contracts  must  be  broken,  and  damages  must  be  paid, 
which  it  is  apparent,  will  equal  the  whole  cost  of  bringing  the 
enlarged  Erie  canal  into  use,  thirteen  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
But  one  portion  strenuously  insist  on  resuming  the  works  imme- 


366  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

diately,  the  abandonment  of  which  has  cost  so  much,  while  the 
other  insists  on  rendering  the  abandonment  complete  and  per- 
petual, by  amending  the  constitution  for  that  purpose.  Again, 
a  portion  demand  a  further  direct  tax  of  sixty  thousand  dollars 
per  annum  to  pay  damages,  while  their  associates  insist,  as  we 
know  to  be  the  fact,  that  the  canal  revenues  are  abundant,  and 
all  agree,  not  only  in  resisting  the  apportionment  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  public  lands,  but  reject  nearly  ninety  thousand  dollars  from 
that  source,  secured  by  the  late  whig  administration,  and  actually 
deposited  in  bank  to  the  credit  of  the  state. 

You  will  inquire  what  is  to  be  expected  in  regard  to  the  Erie 
railroad,  and  the  unfinished  canals.  But  we  confess,  with  all 
our  facilities  for  information,  concerning  the  views  of  the  admin- 
istration, we  can  give  no  assurance.  A  report  has  been  sub- 
mitted in  the  senate,  designed  to  prove  that  the  lateral  canals 
already  constructed  are  unnecessary,  and  ought  to  be  filled  up ; 
that  the  enlargement  of  the  Erie  canal  was  altogether  visionary, 
while  the  unfinished  Genesee  Valley  and  Black  River  canals  are 
monuments  of  legislative  fatuity  and  corruption.  These  con- 
clusions are  put  forward,  however,  with  arguments,  which  as 
conclusively  demonstrate  that  the  Erie  and  Champlain  canals 
themselves  were  improvidently  constructed,  and  have  contributed 
to  cover  the  state  with  debts  and  bankruptcy.  The  result  of  the 
report  is,  that  instead  of  paying  the  public  debt  as  it  shall  become 
due  from  the  resources  derived  from  the  public  works  alone,  the 
time  of  payment  must  be  anticipated,  the  revenues  must  be  kept 
as  unproductive  as  neglect  and  damages  will  render  them,  and 
taxation  must  be  continued  and  increased  indefinitely ;  and  not 
only  no  new  work  of  internal  improvement  must  be  commenced, 
but  not  a  dollar  must  be  spent  in  completing  those  now  sus- 
pended, during  a  period  of  twenty-two  and  a  half  years.  It 
would  be  unjust  to  deny,  that  a  portion  of  the  majority  repudiate 
this  absurd  policy.  It  is  a  small  portion  of  it  to  be  sure,  but  in 
their  apparent  willingness  to  relieve  the  state  from  the  absurd 
and  ruinous  provisions  of  the  act  of  1842,  they  have  more  effec- 
tually exposed  the  indefensible  course  of  the  majority,  than  we 
of  the  minority  could  by  any  possibility  have  done.  The  report 
from  the  committee  on  canals  in  the  house  of  assembly,  a  ma- 
jority of  which  are  of  the  dominant  party,  affords  ample  proof 
that,  some  of  these  architects  of  ruin  are  occasionally  visited  with 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  367 

a  returning  sense  of  justice  and  reason.  That  report,  as  well  as 
the  bill  which  accompanied  it,  proposed  to  secure  to  the  public 
works,  which  had  been  in  a  state  of  decay  and  dilapidation  for 
upward  of  two  years,  some  degree  of  preservation,  and  to  save 
the  public  treasury  an  actual  drain  of  many  thousands  of  dollars, 
which  it  was  suffering  by  reason  of  the  neglected  and  unfinished 
6tate  in  which  many  of  the  structures  on  the  canals  had  been 
left  by  the  act  of  1842.  Although  from  this  report,  and  the 
statements  of  the  engineers,  with  which  it  is  accompanied,  it 
clearly  appears,  that  an  expenditure  of  one  million  three  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  dollars  would  complete  one  line  of  enlarged 
locks,  and  furnish  an  abundant  supply  of  water,  from  Albany  to 
Buffalo,  whereby  the  tonnage  of  boats  would  be  increased  from 
seventy  to  one  hundred  and  five  tons,  the  cost  of  transportation 
reduced  twenty-five  per  cent.,  and  the  capacity  of  the  canal  en- 
larged three-fold ;  and,  although  it  was  demonstrated  with  equal 
certainty,  that  such  an  expenditure  could  be  made  from  the  sur- 
plus revenues  of  the  canals,  without  interfering  with  any  public 
pledges,  or  resorting  to  taxation,  yet  not  one  dollar  has  been 
appropriated  for  the  purpose. 

Along  the  whole  line  of  the  canals,  bridges,  aqueducts,  cul- 
verts, and  other  structures,  have  remained  in  an  unfinished  and 
decaying  condition,  since  the  doom  pronounced  upon  them  in 
1842.  Large  amounts  of  valuable  materials  lie  scattered  upon 
the  banks  and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  canals,  scarcely  known  or 
cared  for,  as  public  property,  subject  by  the  irrevocable  decrees 
of  the  act  of  1842,  to  be  lost  to  the  state  by  exposure  and  pillage. 
That  there  should  have  been  found  in  the  majority,  some,  who, 
despite  of  party  shackles,  would  no  longer  so  bow  down  to  and 
worship  its  policy,  as  to  resist  these  claims  upon  their  duty  and 
patriotism,  is  not  strange.  Accordingly  the  bill  reported  into 
the  assembly,  although  imperfect  and  insufficient  in  its  provis- 
ions, and  falling  far  short  of  the  just  necessities  of  the  public 
works,  contained  the  germ  of  relief  from  the  ruinous  policy 
which  had  been  visited  upon  us.  We  rejoiced  at  its  introduc- 
tion, and  gave  it  our  voices  and  votes.  ¥e  did  so,  because  we 
saw  not  only  the  necessity  and  justice  of  the  resumption  of  the  pub- 
lic works  fully  recognised  by  it,  but  also  a  mark  of  condemnation 
placed  upon  the  policy  which  it  thereby  repudiated  and  aban- 
doned.    The  hopes  so  unexpectedly  excited  were  destined,  how- 


368  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

ever,  to  a  brief  existence.  Before  the  bill  was  suffered  to  become 
a  law,  it  was  deprived  of  its  original  and  cardinal  features,  and 
the  result  was,  that  the  utmost  sympathy  of  legislation  was  ex- 
hausted in  the  appropriation  of  the  comparatively  insignificant 
sum  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  only  for  one  year. 
The  causes  of  this  unsteady  and  vacillating  course  are  apparent. 
Notwithstanding  a  portion  of  the  majority  retain  some  friendship 
for  the  public  works,  they  are  so  deeply  committed  to  the  per- 
versions and  frauds  by  which  the  wThig  policy  was  overthrown,, 
and  so  embarrassed  by  the  necessity  for  party  cohesion,  that  they 
are  totally  incapable  of  any  positive  effort,  and  if  not  overborne 
in  numbers  by  the  foes  of  these  works,  are  powerless  themselves 
for  good  or  evil.  Akin  to  the  measure  of  which  we  have  just 
spoken,  is  that  which  was  finally  adopted  in  order  to  pay  the 
contractors  on  the  canals,  for  the  damages  allowed  for  the  breach 
of  their  contracts.  The  bill  introduced  for  this  purpose  in  the 
assembly  by  the  majority,  proposed  to  appropriate  the  necessary 
moneys  to  pay  the  contractors,  without  imposing  additional  bur- 
dens upon  the  people.  To  this  bill  we  assented,  as  did  also  the 
dominant  party  in  the  house.  But  such  a  measure  could  not 
meet  with  favor  in  the  other  branch  of  the  legislature.  To  our 
surprise  and  mortification  this  bill  was  returned  by  the  senate, 
with  an  amendment  imposing  an  additional  tax  upon  the  people  to 
raise  the  necessary  means  to  pay  for  the  broken  contracts.  The 
bill  as  it  was  originally  reported  was  an  admission,  and  such  we 
allege  the  fact  to  be,  that  the  surplus  revenues  of  the  canals,  with 
the  aid  of  the  mill  tax,  were  amply  sufficient  to  meet  this  neces- 
sity of  the  state  without  casting  additional  burdens  upon  the 
people,  and  we  therefore  did  not,  and  would  not,  assent  to  it  in 
its  amended  form. 

If  the  present  exposures  made  by  our  opponents  of  their  former 
errors  be  true,  they  were  flagitiously  improvident  and  corrupt, 
from  1833  to  1839.  If  they  were  wise  and  patriotic  during  that 
period,  their  present  conduct  is  preposterous  and  wicked.  But 
it  has  not  been  in  our  power  to  correct  either  their  former  errors, 
or  to  secure  the  state,  against  the  consequences  of  those  more  re- 
cently committed.  "We  acknowledge  submission  to  the  will  of 
the  people,  constitutionally  expressed,  and  fear  not  to  trust  them 
always.  It  was  enough  for  the  whig  party  when  in  power,  that 
the  people  had  undertaken  those  works,  and  pledged  their  faith  to 


•  LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  36£ 

their  prosecution.  They  were  prosecuted,  and  that  faith  was 
preserved.  It  is  enough  for  us  now,  that  the  people  have  sanc- 
tioned the  policy  of  suspension  and  repudiation.  The  whole 
subject  returns  again  to  the  people.  So  long  as  they  shall  ad- 
here to  that  policy,  we  shall  acquiesce  as  is  the  duty  of  good 
citizens.  But  if  other  and  different  sentiments  obtain  just  ascen- 
dency, as  we  sincerely  hope,  the  whig  party  will  then  be  willing 
and  ready  to  ascertain  and  strike  the  balance  on  the  books  as 
they  shall  be  delivered,  to  fulfil  every  engagement  legally  bind*- 
ing  on  the  state,  to  husband  the  public  resources,  and  to  devote 
themselves  to  such  enterprises,  and  such  alone,  as  shall  deserve 
and  receive  the  approbation  of  the  people,  and  can  be  completed 
without  taxation  and  consistently  with  the  due  extinguishment 
of  the  public  debt.  A  whig  administration  will  come  to  those 
great  duties,  uncomplaining  and  unprejudiced,  unembarrassed  by 
responsibilities  alike  for  errors  committed  in  projecting,  and  for 
those  which  induced  the  abandonment  of  the  public  works. 

Changes  in  the  organic  law  of  the  state  ought  not  to  be  rashly 
made ;  yet  it  is  confessed  that  some  amendments  of  the  constitu- 
tion have  become  necessary.  In  a  growing  country  and  a  pro- 
gressive state  of  society,  such  an  exigency  must  often  happen. 
We  have  seen  nothing,  however,  in  the  mismanagement  of  finan- 
cial affairs  confessed  by  our  opponents,  satisfying  us  that  the 
legislative  power  ought  to  be  abridged  to  the  extent  provided  for 
in  certain  amendments  of  the  constitution,  which  have  been, 
adopted.  The  inconvenience  and  impracticability  of  the  propo- 
sition to  submit  to  the  people,  in  the  first  instance,  any  contem- 
plated appropriation  of  money,  will  doubtless  be  apprehended 
by  every  impartial  citizen.  Besides,  we  know  of  no  public  senti- 
ment which  has  called  for  it,  or  any  real  abuse  in  the  past  history 
of- the  state,  wThich  justifies  it.  Evils  and  embarrassments  of  the 
most  serious  nature  must  flow  from  the  legislation  indicated  by 
such  an  amendment.  Had  our  constitution  contained  such  a  pro- 
vision, as  is  now  insisted  upon,  even  the  Erie  and  Champlain  canals, 
the  chief  sources  of  revenue  and  public  wealth,  would  never  have 
been  constructed.  We  have,  however,  no  such  distrust  of  the 
people  as  to  desire  to  prevent  them  from  amending  the  constitu- 
tion, in  that  respect,  as  they  may  deem  expedient. 

There  are  other  suggested  amendments  of  great  importance. 
The  judiciary  is  confessedly  incompetent  to  a  perfect  and  speedy 

Yol.  III.— 2i 


370  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

administration  of  justice  and  equity,  and  a  portion  of  us  have  con- 
sented to  several  propositions  to  increase  the  judicial  power  of  the 
state  rather  than  hazard  all  hope  of  change  while  others  preferred 
to  wait  a  more  complete  and  perfect  re-organization  of  the  judi- 
ciary by  the  people  in  convention.  Kepresentation  in  the  assem- 
bly has  become  unequal,  and  additional  responsibility  might  be 
secured  by  subdividing  the  state  into  separate  assembly  districts 
of  equal  population.  The  spirit  of  the  age  condemns  the  narrow 
policy  which,  by  a  property  qualification,  disfranchises  a  small 
portion  of  the  people.  Central  power  might  be  profitably 
abridged,  and  the  power  of  the  people  to  choose  many  public 
officers,  now  otherwise  selected,  might  be  safely  and  wisely  ex- 
tended. We  have  generally  favored  these  important  reforms. 
Oar  votes  in  regard  to  the  manner  of  securing  amendments,  have 
varied  according  to  our  respective  opinions  of  the  urgency  of  the 
people,  and  of  the  probability  of  securing  the  end  in  the  manner 
prescribed  in  the  constitution.  We  regret  that  after  discussions 
which  have  occupied  so  great  a  portion  of  the  session,  the  results 
should  have  been  so  comparatively  unimportant  and  unavailing. 
But  the  questions  agitated  will  now  engage  your  direct  attention, 
and  the  next  legislature  will  come  to  the  reconsideration  of  them 
with  great  advantages,  while  the  delay  is  unimportant  compared 
with  the  greater  consequence  of  securing  only  sound  amendments 
to  the  great  charter  under  which  we  have  lived,  in  tranquillity 
and  general  happiness,  more  than  twenty  years. 

In  order  to  reduce  the  burdens  unnecessarily  thrown  upon  the 
canal  revenues,  to  bring  the  public  works  periodically  within  the 
reach  of  the  people,  and  to  secure  the  most  competent  and  faith- 
ful agents,  the  reduction  of  the  number  of  canal  commissioners, 
and  their  election  by  the  people,  was  proposed  at  an  early  day  in 
the  session.  The  proposition  met  with  so  little  favor  at  the  hands 
of  the  majority,  and  was  so  strenuously  resisted  by  many  of  them, 
that  for  a  long  time  little  hope  existed  of  its  adoption.  At  the 
close  of  the  session,  however,  the  responsibility  of  rejecting  so 
just  and  salutary  a  measure  suddenly  appeared  to  many  of  the 
majority,  they  came  in  large  numbers  to  our  aid,  and  we  have 
now  to  congratulate  you.  upon  the  passage  of  a  law  reducing  the 
number  of  these  functionaries  to  four,  and  clothing  you  with  the 
power  of  selecting  them.  AVe  hail  this  measure  as  bearing  a 
most  important  relation  to  the  interests  of  our  public  works.     It 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  371 

is  with  the  people  now  to  see  to  it  that  practical,  honest,  and 
competent  commissioners  are  chosen,  who  will  banish  the  abuses 
which  exist,  introduce  a  sound  and  economical  system  of  finance, 
and  above  all,  dispel  the  gross  and  exaggerated  statements  which 
for  years  have  been  industriously  contrived  and  propagated,  in 
regard  to  the  cost  and  revenues  of  the  canals.  A  committee  in 
the  assembly  amused  the  legislature  with  a  report,  magnificently 
proposing  to  reduce  the  emoluments  of  all  public  officers  twenty 
per  cent.,  and  then  the  majority  thrust  it  aside,  as  if  benefits  so 
serious  were  to  be  proposed  to  the  people  in  mere  mockery. 
The  inspection  laws,  too  often  designed  and  always  mainly  used 
to  reward  politicians  for  partisan  services  by  exactions  on  agri- 
culture, trade,  and  commerce,  remain  without  material  modifica- 
tion, except  that  a  new  officer  has  been  created  in  the  city  of 
New  York,  with  the  formidable  title  of  "inspector-general," 
whose  sole  powers  consist  in  distributing  the  spoils  among  the 
subalterns,  who  may  not  have  character  enough  to  discharge 
that  important  duty  themselves.  There  have  been  speculations 
about  encouragement  to  agriculture,  and  improvements  of  the 
system  of  public  education,  but  no  beneficent  measure  has  been 
adopted. 

Such,  fellow-citizens,  is  the  result  of  the  second  year's  ascen- 
dency of  the  restored  party  in  the  state  government.  "We  deeply 
regret  that  it  must  be  so  unsatisfactory.  When  we  reflect  what 
the  legislature  of  New  York  has  done  under  the  auspices  of  illus- 
trious statesmen,  and  survey  the  monuments  of  her  greatness  and 
intelligence  that  are  seen  everywhere  throughout  her  borders, 
and  when  we  reflect  upon  the  resources  and  capacity  of  the  state, 
and  the  wisdom  and  virtue  of  the  people,  it  seems  a  great 
misfortune  that  even  two  years  should  be  spent  without  adding 
something  to  civic  achievements,  so  beneficent  and  glorious. 

Subjects  of  more  general  interest  have  necessarily,  though 
incidentally,  engaged  our  consideration. 

The  perfidy  of  the  successor  of  the  lamented  Harrison  deprived 
the  American  people  of  all  the  great  measures  which  would 
otherwise  have  resulted  from  the  triumph  of  the  whig  party  in 
1840,  except  the  tariff;  and  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  in  Con- 
gress signalized  their  return  to  power,  by  a  vigorous  effort  to 
repeal  the  tariff-law  ere  it  should  have  time  to  disclose  fully 
its  beneficent  effects.     In  this  emergency,  we  earnestly  implored 


372  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

the  legislature  of  New  York  to  make  known  to  Congress  your 
perfect  and  unanimous  contentment  with  the  tariff,  your  deep 
apprehension  and  solicitude  for  its  preservation,  at  least  until  its 
fruits  were  matured,  and  your  fixed  and  unalterable  determina- 
tion that  it  should  not  be  disturbed.  But  our  appeal  was  unsuc- 
cessful, and  New  York,  by  the  silence  of  the  legislature,  and  by 
the  vote  of  one  of  her  senators  representing  the  dominant  party 
in  Congress,  is  arrayed  with  South  Carolina  in  opposition  to  the 
policy  of  protection  of  free  American  industry. 

Nothing  has  been  done  or  even  said,  by  the  executive  or  by 
the  legislature,  to  induce  the  states  of  Virginia  and  Georgia  to- 
rescind  their  unconstitutional  laws,  by  which  New  York  vessels 
are  subjected  to  visitations  and  pitiful  exactions,  as  a  retaliation 
for  the  laws  of  this  state  extending  the  trial  by  jury  to  persons* 
claimed  as  slaves,  and  for  the  firmness  with  which  the  late  chief- 
magistrate  maintained  that  the  constitution  of  the  United  States 
did  not  justify  a  surrender  of  fugitives  as  criminals,  charged  with 
no  crime  known  to  the  common  law,  the  laws  of  God,  and  the 
common  sentiments  of  civilized  men. 

The  session  of  Congress  seemed  to  open  propitiously  to  the 
advancing  cause  of  human  liberty.  The  stern  and  inflexible 
Adams  seemed  at  one  time  about  to  obtain  a  recognition  of  the 
right  of  states  and  citizens  to  petition  the  national  legislature  on 
the  subject  of  human  slavery.  We  appealed  to  our  brethren  in 
the  legislature,  to  join  us  in  protesting  against  the  flagrant  viola- 
tion of  the  constitution,  by  which  that  inviolable  and  inalienable 
right  had  so  long  been  denied.  We  urged  your  unanimous  and 
well-known  sentiments  and  sympathies  on  that  deeply  interesting 
subject.  The  party  bonds  were  found  relaxed,  and  the  majority 
generally  and  nobly  sustained  our  appeal.  But  with  the  night 
that  followed,  came  considerations  of  personal  objects  and  politi- 
cal advantages,  and  the  next  morning  the  action  of  the  previous 
day  was  rescinded,  and  New  York  was  made  to  speak  in  language 
so  evasive  as  to  cover  her  free  citizens  with  humiliation  and 
shame.  A  subsequent  attempt  to  secure  the  voice  of  New  York 
in  favor  of  the  tariff  and  the  right  of  petition,  made  after  oppor- 
tunity had  been  had  for  reflection,  and  when  strong  indications 
had  been  given  at  Washington,  by  the  dominant  party,  that  it 
had  lost  the  degree  of  moral  courage  necessary  to  sustain  it  in 
its  opposition  to  these  measures,  met  with  a  similar  fate.     On 


LEGISLATIVE  ADDRESS.  373 

this  last  occasion,  after  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  pass  affirma- 
tion propositions  in  favor  of  free  trade  and  in  justification  of  the 
denial  of  the  right  of  petition,  under  the  operation  of  the  odious 
gag-rule,  whereby  debate  and  amendment  are  cut  off,  we  find  the 
majority  sending  their  own  propositions  to  a  committee,  not 
daring  to  trust  even  themselves  with  a  direct  vote  upon  them. 
We  would  not  be  discourteous  toward  our  adversaries,  yet  truth 
and  justice  bid  us  say  that  such  legislation  is  unworthy  of  Ameri- 
can freemen. 

The  acting  president  of  the  United  States  was  understood  to 
have  nearly  completed  a  treaty  with  Texas  for  the  admission  of 
that  country  to  the  American  confederacy,  upon  a  false  and  fraud- 
ulent pretence  that  England  was  seeking  the  same  object,  at  the 
hazard  of  war  with  Mexico,  without  the  knowledge  or  consent  of 
the  American  people,  and  in  opposition  to  their  well-known 
wishes,  and  upon  considerations  derogatory  to  the  national  honor 
and  to  humanity.  That  treaty,  the  grounds  upon  which  it  was 
made,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  negotiated,  are  now  before 
the  people,  and  the  disclosure  has  had  no  other  effect  than  to 
draw  down  upon  the  president  the  merited  scorn  of  virtuous 
men  of  all  parties,  as  it  unhappily  will  expose  our  country  to 
reproach  throughout  Christendom.  Yet  you  will  hardly  credit 
us,  when  we  assure  you  that  so  cogent  was  the  fear  of  giving 
offence  to  political  allies,  that  our  best  efforts  to  induce  the 
majority  of  the  legislature  to  protest  against  the  treaty  proved 
unsuccessful. 

It  was  apparent,  when  we  assembled  at  the  capitol,  that  the 
whigs  of  the  state  of  New  York,  without  dissent,  harmonized 
with  their  political  brethren  in  preferring  Henry  Clay,  of  Ken- 
tucky, for  the  high  trust  of  president  of  the  United  States.  Our 
own  judgments  and  our  hearts  approved  this  preference,  as  one 
which  promised  to  heal  the  wounds  inflicted  upon  the  public 
welfare  and  honor  during  the  administration  of  Van  Buren,  and 
of  the  unfaithful  individual  whom  the  friends  of  that  statesman 
had  seduced  from  the  glorious  pathway  opened  to  him  by  the 
death  of  President  Harrison.  Not  only  the  public  welfare,  but 
the  honor  of  the  country  and  the  cause  of  republican  govern- 
ment, seemed  to  us  now  to  require  an  administration  worthy  to 
be  named  and  associated  in  history  with  those  of  Washington, 
of  Jeffetson,  and  of  the  younger  Adams.     Henry  Clay,  more- 


374  POLITICAL  WRITINGS. 

over,  had  long  suffered  relentless  persecution  for  his  integrity,, 
his  magnanimity,  and  his  self-denying  patriotism.  The  time 
had  come,  as  in  every  enlightened  republic  it  always  will  come,, 
when  the  public  conscience  was  awakened  to  this  deep  injustice. 
We  therefore,  in  your  name,  hastened  to  give  an  early  sanction 
to  the  spontaneous  nomination  of  that  distinguished  citizen,  that 
the  people  of  the  United  States  might  be  assured  that  the  whigs- 
of  New  York  yielded  as  readily  to  generous  impulses,  as  they 
faithfully  adhered  to  the  principles  and  policy  of  the  whig  party. 
Following,  also,  very  marked  and  general  indications  of  popular 
favor  toward  a  distinguished  citizen  of  our  own  state,  who  had 
illustrated  a  successful  career  in  Congress  by  his  effective  advo- 
cacy of  the  tariff  and  other  important  measures,  we  assumed,  in 
the  name  of  the  whigs  of  New  York,  to  recommend  Millard  Fill- 
more to  the  whigs  of  the  United  States,  as  a  suitable  person  to 
be  nominated  for  the  office  of  vice-president.  Although  strongly 
indicating  this  preference,  yet  we  failed  not  in  advance  to  pledge 
the  whigs  of  New  York  to  any  name  which  the  national  conven- 
tion might  recommend. 

We  beg  leave  solemnly  to  speak  to  our  whig  brethren  of  the 
rightfulness  and  expediency  of  confiding  in  the  whigs  of  the 
United  States,  for  the  accomplishment  of  all  important  objects 
affecting  the  public  welfare.  All  isolated,  all  intemperate  ac- 
tion, all  secessions  from  the  whig  party  to  secure  new  or 
remote  ends,  always  eventually  fail.  The  whig  party  promotes 
public  wealth  and  happiness  by  protecting  personal  industry,  and 
by  developing  those  resources  with  which  God  has  blessed  the 
American  states.  It  works  out  reforms,  but  adheres  to  existing 
institutions,  and  submits  to  existing  laws,  until  they  can  be  peace- 
fully and  constitutionally  changed.  It  is  devoted  to  progress,, 
but  it  does  not  destroy.  It  seeks  to  establish  perfect  equality 
of  political  rights ;  but  it  levels  upward,  not  downward,  by 
education  and  benignant  legislation,  not  by  subverting  estab- 
lished laws  or  institutions.  It  is  the  party  of  law,  of  order, 
of  enterprise,  of  improvement,  of  beneficence,  of  hope  and 
humanity.  Through  the  action  of  this  great  and  generous 
party,  every  attainable  national  good  may  be  ultimately  se- 
cured, and  through  its  action  we  can  b*-st  promote  the  more 
comprehensive  interests  of  freedom  and  humanity  throughout 
the  world. 


GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE 


POLITICAL. 


TO   ADONIJAH   MOODY,   ESQ. 

Albany,  November  7,  1839. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Your  very  kind  letter  inviting  me  to  meet  the 
whigs  of  this  city  at  your  house  this  evening,  has  been  received. 
I  return  you  and  them,  my  grateful  acknowledgments  for  the 
invitation.  Since  my  election  to  the  office  I  have  the  honor  to 
hold,  I  have  been  invited  on  several  occasions,  to  meet  assem- 
blies of  my  fellow-citizens,  with  whose  political  opinions  my  own 
coincided,  and  on  others  to  accept  hospitalities  tendered  to  me  by 
those  who  were  disposed  to  judge  favorably  of  my  public  con- 
duct. I  have,  in  all  instances,  declined  such  invitations,  for 
reasons  which  I  will  state  with  frankness.  I  have  always  be- 
lieved that,  the  chief-magistrate  of  the  state  ought  to  exercise  his 
trust  for  the  welfare  and  happiness  of  the  whole  people,  and  that 
he  could  not,  without  giving  to  a  portion  of  his  constituents  cause 
of  just  offence,  mingle  in  the  partisan  controversies  of  the  times. 
I  think  those  by  whose  suffrages  I  occupy  that  high  trust,  would 
not  willingly  see  me  depart  from  the  rule  I  have  pursued.  En- 
tertaining these  opinions,  I  am  obliged  to  ask  the  gentlemen  who 
are  to  assemble  at  your  house,  to  excuse  me  from  accepting  their 
invitation. 

I  pray  you  to  present  to  them  the  assurance  of  my  high  respect 
for  them  personally,  as  well  as  for  their  patriotic  devotion  to  the 
true  interests  of  the  country. 

With  sincere  respect  and  esteem,  I  remain  your  friend  and 
obedient  servant. 


378  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO  H.  C.   W.   ESQ.,  STEW  YOKK. 

Albany,  March,  25,  1840. 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  letter  of  the  19th  was  duly  received,  and  I 
return  you  my  grateful  acknowledgments  for  the  frankness  with 
which  your  views  are  therein  expressed.  I  regret  to  find  a  dif- 
ference of  opinion  among  excellent  friends,  on  the  subjects  dis- 
cussed in  your  communication.  I  can  not,  however,  in  justice 
to  myself,  suffer  any  suitable  occasion  to  pass  without  correcting 
an  error  concerning  myself,  into  which  many  others,  as  well  as 
yourself,  have  fallen.  You  remark  that,  "even  to  a  partial 
observer,  it  can  not  be  disguised,  that  we,  as  a  party,  have  been 
practising  efforts  to  secure  the  votes  of  the  Irish,"  and  your 
subsequent  explanations  show  that,  I  am  supposed  to  be  con- 
cerned in  these  "practices."  Now,  my  dear  sir,  I  am  not  at  all 
sensitive  about  misconstruction  of  my  principles  and  conduct 
when  it  is  made  in  the  press,  or  even  in  the  conversation  of  my 
own  friends.  To  be  misrepresented  by  one's  opponents,  and  to 
be  misunderstood  by  one's  friends,  is  inevitable  by  those  in  pub- 
lic service.  But  it  is  quite  another  affair  when  one  is  obliged  to 
answer,  or  be  understood  as  tacitly  admitting  the  truth  of  the 
injurious  misconstruction.  I  "practise"  nothing,  and  furthest 
from  my  thoughts  or  designs  is  it  to  "practise"  in  the  matter  in 
question.  The  sentiments  I  have  expressed  in  relation  to  for- 
'  eigners  may  be  erroneous,  they  are  not  insincere.  And  for 
proof,  you  have  my  assurance  that,  although  I  have  been  for 
several  years  in  political  life,  no  different  sentiments  have  ever 
been  expressed  by  me,  but,  on  the  contrary,  on  all  occasions, 
both  here  and  in  letters  from  Ireland,  when  at  least  I  could  have 
had  no  ambitious  purposes,  or  political  schemes,  I  published  the 
same  and  kindred  opinions.  And  you  have,  for  further  proof, 
my  assurance,  that  now,  on  review  of  every  word  I  have  written 


•  POLITICAL.  379 

or  spoken,  there  is  not  one,  which,  under  the  influence  of  a  sense 
of  official  responsibility,  I  would  consent  to  obliterate. 

After  what  I  have  said,  you  will  naturally  expect  that  I  shall 
differ  from  you,  in  regard  to  the  opinions  you  give  concerning 
this  class  of  adopted  citizens.  I  do  not  agree,  "  that  the  lower 
order  of  Irish  are  incapable  of  being  persuaded  by  reason."  I 
do  not  think  that  "  they  have  been  placed  by  the  Divine  Omnip- 
otent in  the  lowest  scale  of  creation."  I  offer  neither  that  Divine 
Being  the  indignity,  nor  this  abused  people  the  injustice  of  be- 
lieving that  their  minds  are  "  less  susceptible  "  than  those  of  other 
men,  or  that  he  "has  instilled  into  them  narrow,  selfish,  besotted 
feelings  of  bigotry,  which  no  course  of  instruction  could  even 
sway."  I  do  not  think  them  "  ungrateful."  I  do  not  think  them 
impatient  of  moral  restraint,  immovable  by  patriotic  considera- 
tions. I  do  not  think  them  "  deaf  to  persuasion,"  and  requiring 
to  be  "  ruled  by  a  rod  of  iron,"  nor  do  I  think  them  "  exacting 
and  discontented  under  kind  and  gentle  treatment." 

Quite  the  contrary  of  all  this,  I  think  all  men,  of  all  nations, 
and  kindred,  alike  endowed  with  reasoning  powers,  which  enable 
them  to  defend  themselves  against  danger  and  injustice,  to  seek 
their  own  happiness,  and  to  improve  their  condition.  I  think 
that  the  Irish  population  to  whom  you  allude,  are  useful,  well- 
meaning,  and  as  a  mass,  inoffensive,  and  religiously-disposed 
citizens.  I  think  them  more  generous,  liberal,  and  disinterested, 
than  most  other  classes  of  the  community,  reposing  more  than 
others  upon  the  consolation  of  their  religion,  and  less  disposed  to 
force  its  tenets  upon  others.  I  think  them  eminently  and  prover- 
bially grateful,  confiding,  and  devoted.  I  believe  the  institutions 
of  their  adopted  country  are  as  dear  to  them  as  to  us,  who  are 
native  citizens.  I  believe  all  mankind  are  made  by  the  Creator 
of  men  to  be  restless  under  oppression,  and  to  submit  kindly  to 
necessary  government,  only  when  the  powers  of  government  are 
conferred  by  themselves,  and  even  then,  only  when  those  powers 
are  exercised  beneficently.  I  believe  the  history  of  the  Irish 
people  shows,  that  their  loyalty  has  continued  faithful  under 
greater  exaction,  oppression,  and  privation,  than  would  have 
wrought  any  other  people  up  to  frenzy.  I  believe  them  less- 
exacting  of  this  government  than  any  other  portion  of  our  popu- 
lation. 

If  this  confession  of  faith  seem  strange  to  you,  you  will  permit 


380  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE 

me  to  explain,  that  I  could  not  believe  otherwise,  without  doing 
dishonor  to  a  mother,  eminent  for  many  virtues,  and  to  the 
memories  of  humble  ancestors,  whose  names  will  not  be  saved 
from  obscurity  by  the  record  of  any  extraordinary  vices. 

I  need  not  add  that,  I  have  no  sympathy  with  that  feeling,  if 
it  exists  toward  this  people,  which  you  seem  to  think  not  suffi- 
ciently forcibly  expressed  by  the  word  "  hatred,"  and  I  am  far 
from  allowing  it  to  be  an  American  feeling.  Why  should  an 
American  hate  foreigners?  It  is  to  hate  such  as  his  forefathers 
were.  Why  should  a  foreigner  be  taught  to  hate  Americans? 
It  is  to  hate  what  he  is  most  anxious  his  children  shall  become. 
For  myself,  so  far  from  hating  any  of  my  fellow-citizens,  I  should 
.shrink  from  myself,  if  I  did  not  recognise  them  all  as  worthy  of 
my  constant  solicitude  to  promote  their  welfare,  and  entitled  of 
right,  by  the  constitution  and  laws,  and  by  the  higher  laws  of 
God  himself,  to  equal  rights,  equal  privileges,  and  equal  political 
favor,  as  citizens  of  the  state,  with  myself. 

I  forbear  from  defending  my  action  on  the  particular  occasions 
mentioned  in  your  letter.  It  is  before  the  world,  and  is  freely 
left  to  the  discussion  of  all  my  fellow-citizens,  whatever  their 
various  political  opinions  may  be.  But  I  can  not  refuse  to  take 
the  position  to  wThich  my  political  principles  lead.  I  should 
scorn  to  be  indebted  for  any  favor,  or  support,  to  any  belief  that 
I  was  insincere,  or  that  I  could  change  that  course  of  action. 
You  will,  therefore,  permit  me  to  observe,  that  I  have  never  soli- 
cited the  political  favor  of  any  party,  or  any  man.  My  course  in 
regard  to  public  affairs,  is  always  intended  to  be  marked  out  by 
•convictions  of  duty,  and  influenced  by  motives  of  patriotism.  If 
-any  man,  whether  whig  or  otherwise,  will  withhold  his  favor  from 
me,  because  I  opened  the  prison-doors  to  the  ministers  of  the  Cath- 
olic religion,  because  I  believe  that  the  state  owes  it  to  herself, 
.and  to  a  just  regard  to  the  stability  of  her  institutions,  and  to  the 
happiness  of  her  people,  to  afford  to  all  the  destitute  children  in 
the  commonwealth  advantages  of  moral  and  religious  education, 
find  that  education,  if  it  can  not  be  otherwise  conferred,  may 
rightly  be  conferred  by  the  employment,  for  the  purpose,  of  per- 
sons professing  the  same  language  and  religious  creed  with  these 
children  of  poverty  and  misfortune,  or  because  I  admit  adopted 
citizens  to  a  full  participation  in  the  government  by  which  they 
are  taxed,  whose  wealth  is  increased  by  their  labor,  and  whose 


POLITICAL  381 

liberty  they  are  always  ready  to  defend,  then  let  that  favor  be 
withheld.  Such  was  not  the  whigism  we  derived  from  our  fore- 
fathers of  the  Kevolutionary  age,  nor  is  such  the  whigism  that  I 
shall  teach  to  my  children. 

Again  assuring  you  of  my  respectful  esteem,  and  thanking  you 
for  the  pains  you  have  taken,  in  giving  me  an  exposition  of  the 
feeling  which  you  have  heard  expressed,  as  well  as  your  own 
opinions.     I  remain,  sincerely,  your  friend  and  obedient  servant. 


TO  GENEKAL  WILLIAM  HENRY  HAKRISON. 

Albany,  March  31,  1840. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  your  let- 
ter of  the  16th,  and  1  respectfully  return  you  my  thanks  for  the 
interesting  information  it  contains.  We  had  previously  received 
the  newspaper  accounts  of  the  demonstration  of  the  citizens  of 
Cincinnati  at  North  Bend. 

Nothing  doubting  the  indications  of  popular  feeling  in  the 
west,  we  feel  altogether  assured  here  that  like  impulses  will  effect 
similar  changes  in  your  behalf.  Many  of  our  citizens  are  quite 
impatient  for  similar  manifestations  of  popular  enthusiasm.  But 
the  time  has  not  come  yet.  The  whigs  are  in  a  majority  in  the 
legislative  and  executive  departments.  Both  have  to  provide 
for  great  interests,  and  consult  various  and  extended  desires  for 
internal  improvement.  While  the  legislature  remains  in  session, 
the  people  will  be  chiefly  interested  in  questions  of  local  interest. 
But  when  that  time  shall  have  gone  by,  you  will  have  the  pleas- 
ure of  seeing  demonstrations  of  feeling  as  ardent  and  generous 
as  those  in  Ohio.  I  discover  that  Mr.  "Van  Buren's  friends  in 
other  states  seek  to  make  an  impression  abroad,  by  producing  a 
belief  that  Mr.  Yan  Buren  will  call  forth  a  feeling  of  state  pride. 
I  can  assure  you,  my  dear  sir,  if  I  know  anything  of  the  people  of 
this  state,  that  Mr.  Yan  Buren  is  not,  never  was,  and  never  can  be, 
the  object  of  any  such  public  sentiment.  Moreover,  we  are  pros- 
trated in  all  our  business  interests;  and  in  lieu  of  the  pride  we 
might  once  have  felt,  in  regard  to  having  the  presidential  power 
and  influence  in  the  hands  of  a  citizen  of  New  York,  we  hear 


382  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

deep  and  universal  censure  against  that  citizen,  as  having  been 
chiefly  instrumental  in  producing  the  calamities  of  the  times. 

You  will  see  accounts  in  our  papers  of  the  establishment  of  Tip- 
pecanoe clubs,  the  erection  of  log-cabins,  &c.  These,  I  can  assure 
you,  result  from  the  spontaneous  impulses  of  the  people,  without 
the  suggestion  of  any  central  committee ;  for,  as  yet,  our  central 
committees  are  inactive. 

We  shall  have  a  cheap  weekly  paper  (published  six  months  for 
fifty  cents),  entitled  "The  Log-Cabin  Advocate."  It  will  appear 
in  May,  and  have  a  universal  circulation.  Our  course  in  this 
state  is  not  altogether  a  smooth  one,  but  I  entertain  no  doubt 
that  you  will  receive  in  the  final  result  a  majority  of  twenty 
thousand. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 


TO   THE   CITIZENS   OF   ALBANY. 

Albany,  November  4,  1840. 

Gentlemen:  I  receive  with  sensibility  and  gratitude  the  reso- 
lutions of  my  fellow-citizens  of  Albany.  It  is  a  sublime  spectacle 
to  see  a  nation  of  twenty  millions  of  free  people  intelligently  and 
intently  engaged  in  reviewing  the  policy  and  conduct  of  those 
who  administer  their  government,  and  rendering  that  solemn 
judgment  in  which  all  are  bound  to  acquiesce.  On  such  an  oc- 
casion it  must  be  expected  (and  it  is  right)  that  the  severest 
scrutiny  of  public  men  should  be  exercised,  and  the  broadest 
latitude  of  examination  will  be  demanded.  I  rejoice  in  the  assu- 
rances from  all  quarters  of  the  Union  that  the  distinguished  citi- 
zen of  Ohio  who  is  our  candidate  for  the  presidency  is  passing 
safely  through  the  canvass,  and  that  a  grateful  people  have  vin- 
dicated his  well-earned  fame.  The  nation  will,  I  trust,  enjoy  a 
season  of  repose  and  prosperity  under  his  benign  administration 
of  the  government,  and  the  state  will  henceforth  pursue  the  pol- 
icy and  maintain  principles  which  have  raised  her  to  a  proud 
pre-eminence  in  the  Union,  without  encountering  opposition  at 
every  step  from  the  administration  at  Washington. 

For  myself,  I  have  not  desired  to  avoid  scrutiny,  or  circuin- 


POLITICAL.  383 

scribe  examination.  The  illustrious  Jefferson  entered  into  the  pres- 
idency with  transcendent  talents,  extraordinary  acquirements,  and 
rare  knowledge  of  men,  together  with  the  experience  of  mature 
years  and  long  public  service,  and  with  the  most  liberal  and  en- 
larged sentiments  concerning  the  national  rights,  and  the  intelli- 
gence, and  virtue,  of  the  people.  Nevertheless,  he  declared  his 
conviction  that  it  would  rarely  fall  to  the  lot  of  imperfect  man  to  re- 
tire from  such  a  station  with  the  reputation  and  favor  that  brought 
him  into  it.  If  so  vain  an  expectation  had  been  indulged  on  my 
part,  in  assuming  the  executive  chair  of  this  state,  it  would  have 
vanished  when  I  reflected,  not  only  that  I  was  without  preten- 
sions to  the  experience,  the  public  service,  or  the  well-earned 
fame,  by  which  the  distinguished  statesmen  who  preceded  me 
had  secured  the  public  confidence,  but  also  that  my  measures 
and  conduct  were  to  be  tried  in  comparison  with  those  of  citizens 
to  whose  administration  the  people  had  been  long  accustomed  as 
a  circumstance  not  likely  to  be  changed  ;  and  I  could  not  fail  to 
foresee  that,  whatever  might  be  my  merits  or  my  faults,  they 
were  necessarily  to  be  involved  in  the  more  exciting  and  absorb- 
ing discussion  of  national  politics,  and  that  the  public  judgment 
concerning  them  would  justly  be  affected  by  the  political  rela- 
tions I  maintained  toward  the  federal  government.  It  was  well 
known  that  the  public  works  could  not  be  abandoned,  and  that 
the  present  administration  was  required,  by  a  due  consideration 
of  the  permament  interests  of  the  state,  and  an  equal  regard  to 
the  welfare  and  happiness  of  all  its  citizens,  to  prosecute  the  sys- 
tem of  internal  improvements  to  which  we  were  indebted  for 
pre-eminence  in  the  Union.  Yet  it  was  equally  obvious  that  the 
performance  of  that  great  duty  was  to  be  embarrassed  by  the 
errors  in  the  estimates  and  plans  of  our  predecessors ;  by  finan- 
cial difficulties  pervading  the  whole  country,  and  resulting  from 
causes  beyond  the  province  of  state  legislation  ;  and  by  systematic 
efforts  to  destroy  public  credit  at  home  and  abroad,  and  to  excite 
local  jealousies  in  each  region  of  the  state  against  internal  im- 
provements immediately  beneficial  to  others,  and  thus  effect  a 
disappointment  of  the  reasonable  hopes  and  a  withdrawal  of  the 
confidence  of  all.  It  soon  appeared  that  the  power  of  appoint- 
ment was  to  be  exercised,  at  a  crisis  rendered  peculiarly  difficult, 
by  the  excited  expectations  of  candidates  ;  and  to  be  embarrassed 
and  resisted  by  the  acts  of  incumbents  unwilling  to  yield  their 


384-  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

places  at  the  expiration  of  their  terms  of  office,  and  sustained  by 
a  senate  that  acknowledged  no  submission  to  the  public  will ;  and 
that  at  every  step  in  the  exercise  of  constitutional  and  legal  func- 
tions, indispensable  to  the  supremacy  of  the  laws  and  the  admin- 
istration of  justice,  the  executive  must  use  extraordinary  energy, 
and  vindicate  himself  in  courts  of  justice  and  before  the  people 
against  charges  of  usurpation.  It  happened  also  that  the  cur- 
rency of  the  state  was  to  be  maintained  during  a  crisis  of  suspen- 
sion of  specie  payments  throughout  a  large  portion  of  the  Union. 
The  introduction  of  a  more  humane  and  enlightened  system  of 
discipline  in  the  stateprisons  was  not  accomplished  without  a 
direct  appeal  to  the  people.  The  land  has  rung  with  complaints 
of  frauds  and  perjuries  at  elections,  and  yet  the  necessary  efforts 
to  preserve  the  purity  of  the  elective  franchise  have  been  met 
with  an  uncompromising  and  unscrupulous  resistance.  The  cor- 
rection of  oppressive  abuses  in  the  proceedings  of  courts  of  jus- 
tice necessarily  affected  the  interests  of  many  citizens,  either  in 
no  degree  or  only  partially  responsible  for  the  existence  of  those 
evils,  and  for  a  time  brought  upon  me  much  censure.  Although 
the  principle  of  universal  suffrage  is  happily  established  in  our 
system  too  firmly  to  be  overthrown,  and  although  it  necessarily 
involves  the  further  principle  of  universal  education,  yet  the  de- 
sire to  bring  within  the  nurture  of  our  schools  all  the  children  in 
the  state,  who  are  hereafter  to  discharge  the  responsibilities  of 
citizenship,  and  especially  those  who-  by  poverty,  orphanage,  neg- 
lect of  parents,  or  accident  of  language  or  religion,  are  now  left 
to  grow  up  in  idleness  and  vice,  without  moral  instruction,  unless 
they  enter  the  house  of  refuge  through  the  ways  of  crime,  has 
been  the  theme  of  much  misrepresentation.  The  constitutional 
right  of  our  citizens  to  freedom  from  illegal  arrest  has  been  main- 
tained at  the  expense  of  a  misunderstanding  with  one  of  our  sis- 
ter-states. A  more  careful  and  restricted  exercise  of  executive 
clemency  than  had  before  obtained  in  the  government  has  been 
made  the  occasion  for  exciting,  on  the  one  hand,  sympathies  with 
wicked  and  hopeless  offenders  to  whom  pardon  was  denied,  and, 
on  the  other,  misrepresentations  of  the  motives  and  action  of  the 
executive  in  cases  commended  to  his  consideration  by  justice, 
mercy,  and  sound  policy. 

I  am  well  aware  that,  amid  these  and  other  difficulties,  I  have 
often  erred.     I  have  erred  often  from  defect  of  judgment,  but  I 


POLITICAL.  385 

have  erred  often  also  by  reason  of  wrong  information,  for  truth 
is  not  always  swift  to  enter  the  executive  chamber.  When  the 
excitement  and  the  interests  of  the  present  shall  have  passed 
away,  it  may  perhaps  be  allowed  that  I  have  "  sometimes  been 
thought  wrong  by  those  who  received  their  impressions  through 
misrepresentations,  or  whose  positions  did  not  command  a  view 
of  the  whole  ground."  Nevertheless,  I  have  been  sustained  by 
the  reflection  that  I  have  had  no  interest,  and  have  been  con- 
scious of  no  motive,  calculated  to  sway  me  from  the  equal  and 
exact  justice,  the  elevated  purposes,  and  the  pure  patriotism,, 
which  my  station  required.  I  have  remembered  also  that  the- 
people  were  neither  hasty  in  forming  their  judgment,  nor  easily 
deceived;  that  while  they  carefully  weighed  claims  to  their  con- 
fidence, they  were  also  slow  to  withdraw  that  confidence  from 
tried  public  servants ;  and  that  while  difficulties  and  perplexities 
were  unavoidable  in  all  public  employments,  and  success  was  al- 
ways uncertain,  yet  the  magistrate  who  exercised  the  power  con- 
fided to  him  by  his  fellow-citizens  prudently,  firmly,  benignly, 
and  with  a  view  only  to  the  public  good,  would  be  sure  to  enjoy 
the  approbation  of  his  own  conscience,  the  highest  of  earthly 
rewards.  Besides  these  reflections,  I  have  been  cheered  by  the 
hope  that,  when  the  annalist  of  our  state  should  write  the  history 
of  its  roads  and  canals,  its  schools,  and  its  charities,  and  its  be- 
nign legislation,  it  might  at  least  be  allowed  to  me  that  I  had 
endeavored  to  act  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age  and  the- 
principles  of  democratic  liberty.  Thus  cheered  and  sustained,, 
I  have  not  been  impatient  under  the  misapprehensions  of  friends,. 
or  the  misrepresentations  of  those  whose  approbation  it  has  not 
been  my  good  fortune  to  secure,  and  have  left  my  vindication  to 
time  and  the  candor  of  my  fellow-citizens. 

Gentlemen,  I  beg  you  to  return  to  the  citizens  of  Albany  my 
acknowledgments  for  the  generous  welcome  I  have  received  upon 
my  return  among  them.  My  public  life  is  a  record  of  their  kind- 
ness and  confidence ;  my  residence  among  them  has  been  ren- 
dered cheerful  and  happy  by  their  abounding  hospitality.  I  beg 
you  to  assure  them  that,  whether  our  present  relations  shall  con- 
tinue or  shall  cease,  I  shall  remember  for  ever  my  unbounded 
obligations  to  them,  and  offer  always  my  aspirations  to  Heaven 
for  their  prosperity  and  happiness. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  friend  and  fellow-citizen. 

Vol.  III.— 25 


386  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE 


TO   B.    S.,    ESQ.,    NEW  YORK. 

Albany,  November  12,  1840. 

My  Dear  S :  I  thank  you  for  your  very  kind  letter  of  the 

9th,  although  I  regret  much  the  vexed  spirit  which  it  manifests, 
as  well  as  the  erroneous  views  it  presents  of  the  causes  of  losses 
at  the  late  election,  and  of  the  policy  that  ought  to  be  pursued 
in  future. 

That  there  have  been  losses  in  many  counties  heretofore  with 
us,  and  gains  to  our  opponents  in  other  counties,  always  adverse 
to  us,  is  true ;  that  the  Irishmen  throughout  all  those  counties, 
voted  against  us  generally,  and  far  more  generally  than  hereto- 
fore, is  also,  I  doubt  not,  true.  But  that  they  alone,  or  chiefly, 
effected  our  loss,  is,  with  most  respectful  deference,  a  wide  mis- 
take. There  is  scarcely  a  foreigner  in  Delaware,  Otsego,  Put- 
nam, Chemung,  or  Tioga.  Yet  those  counties  all  gave  increased 
majorities  against  us.  In  every  county,  and  in  every  town,  our 
opponents  brought  out  all  the  strength  they  had  ever  cast,  and 
all  they  had  in  reserve.  This  is  the  explanation  of  their  increased 
majorities.  It  was  natural,  it  was  unavoidable.  The  contest  was 
such  as  to  render  it  so.  Our  strength  was  all  out,  and  necessarily 
called  out  that  of  our  adversary.  Irishmen  and  other  adopted 
citizens  belonging  to  that  party  voted  for  their  candidates.  So  did 
Americans.  I  doubt  not  all  alike  honestly  voted — as  honestly 
as  the  whigs.  And  certainly  they  not  only  had  equal  right  to 
vote  so,  but  were  conscientiously  bound  to  vote  according  to 
their  convictions  of  right.  But  you  will  say  that  a  portion  of  the 
naturalized  citizens,  who  had  heretofore  belonged  to  the  whig 
party,  now  voted  for  our  opponents.  Granted — and  for  what 
reason  did  they  so  vote  ?  Because  in  an  election  excited  beyond 
any  ever  known,  they  were  induced  to  believe  that  the  illiberality 
so  often,  and  I  am  obliged  to  say  so  generally,  expressed  by  the 


POLITICAL.  387 

whigs,  was  a  principle  of  the  whig  party,  and  that  in  Mr.  Yan 
Buren's  defeat  they  should  lose  a  protector,  in  General  Harrison's 
election,  they  would  find  a  persecutor,  an  oppressor.  Remember 
what  taunts,  injuries,  insults,  they  have  suffered,  and  reflect 
whether  they  must  not  necessarily  be  jealous  and  suspicious. 
Remember  the  arts  of  our  adversary  and  the  advantage  he  had  in 
possessing  their  confidence,  and  consider  whether  it  was  not  natu- 
ral, they  should  believe.  Remember  the  perverseness  of  our 
friends  on  that  subject.  Even  in  your  letter  now  before  me, 
you  quote  an  observation  of  General  Harrison.  "  The  people" 
(not  as  you  have  quoted  it  '  Americans')  "  must  do  their  own 
voting  as  well  as  fighting,"  as  expressing  his  determination  to ' 
deprive  adopted  citizens  of  their  civil  rights.  What  was  opposed 
to  the  practices  of  the  adversary  ?  My  individual  opinions  and 
feelings  known  to  be  disapproved  by  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  party,  and  represented  to  the  adopted  citizens  as  being  dis- 
approved by  all.  Had  we  derived  our  existence  from  the  Green 
Island,  would  not  all  of  us,  if  indulging  the  same  erroneous 
belief,  have  done  as  they  have  ?  For  one,  I  certainly  should. 
But  Irishmen  abandoned  the  whig  party,  because  they  were  , 
alarmed  for  their  rights.  And  have  not  many  whigs  abandoned 
it  for  a  less  worthy  motive.  But  they  are  accused  of  treachery 
to  me.  It  is  untrue  and  unjust.  The  adopted  citizens  in  mass 
have  long  been  opposed  to  the  party  to  which  I  belong.  They 
owed  me  no  fidelity.  True,  I  am,  or  mean  to  be,  just  to  them. 
But  I  am  the  representative  of  a  party  that  is  unwilling  to  be  so. 
They  voted  against  me  as  such  representative,  deceived  and  mis- 
led as  they  were  by  Americans  in  both  parties,  representing  me 
insincere  and  deceitful.  I  do  not  censure  them.  I  complain  of 
nobody.  I  censure  nobody.  It  does  not  become  me  to  do  so.4 
But  if  I  were  to  say  with  whom  lies  the  fault  of  Irishmen  voting 
in  mass  against  the  candidates  of  the  whig  party,  I  should  say 
that  the  fault  was  with  my  countrymen. 

Your  suspicion  of  Bishop  Hughes  is  as  unworthy  of  you  as  it 
is  unjust.  The  clergy  of  the  Catholic  church,  I  am  satisfied,  are# 
as  free  as  those  of  any  other  denomination  from  interfering  with 
politics,  while  they  have  the  same  right  to  entertain  and  publish 
their  opinions.  But  in  this  election  the  people  have  voted  as 
they  thought  right,  independently  of  the  dictation  or  advice  of 
the  clergy  of  any  denomination. 


388  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

I  have  not  time  to  pursue  this  subject  as  I  wish.  But  I  desire- 
to  be  distinctly  understood,  that  while  I  dictate  to  no  one,  and 
shall  cheerfully  yield  my  place  to  others  whose  principles  may 
suit  the  whig  party  better,  I  disavow,  and  altogether  reject  the 
counsel  of  proscription  of  immigrants.  This  right  hand  drops  off 
before  I  do  one  act  with  the  whig  or  any  other  party  in  opposi- 
tion to  any  portion  of  my  fellow-citizens,  on  the  ground  of  the 
difference  of  their  nativity  or  of  their  religion.  No  pretence  of 
policy,  no  sense  of  injury,  shall  induce  me  to  join,  aid,  or  abet,, 
such  miserable  efforts.  This  determination  may  not  satisfy  those 
who  are  weak  enough  to  believe  that  opponents,  always  arrayed 
against  us,  and  most  opposed  when  the  constitution  and  liberties 
of  the  country  were  in  danger,  will  quit  their  party  and  join  usr 
because  foreigners  have  stood  true  and  faithful  at  their  side.  It 
may  not  change  the  course  of  those  who  think  that  intolerance 
and  proscription  for  opinion  and  faith  can  flourish  in  this  land  of 
free  thoughts  and  free  opinions,  but  it  will  relieve  me  from  the 
self-reproach  of  seeing  the  fairest  political  prospects  of  our  party 
destroyed  without  my  protest,  and  it  will  convince  the  world  that 
the  name  of  demagogue  belongs  not  to  your  faithful  friend. 


POLITICAL.  389 


TO  B.   S.,   ESQ.,  NEW  YOKK. 

Albany,  November  15,  1840. 

My  Dear  S — :  I  received  this  morning  your  letter  of  yester- 
day. Of  course,  :n  this  busy  season,  I  can  not  reply  to  it  as  it 
requires,  to  elucidate  my  views,  where  they  differ  from  your 
own. 

Read,  however,  the  letter  which  opened  this  correspondence, 
and  see  if  I  was  not  excusable  for  giving  to  your  quotation  from 
General  Harrison  the  effect  ascribed.  Am  I  unjust  in  saying  that 
the  whig  party  is  unwilling  to  be  just  to  foreigners?  You  know 
that  I  have  been  no  more  than  just  to  them.  Am  I  not  struck  by 
cowardly  hands  for  that  justice?  But  waive  that  proof,  for  I  am 
too  much  indebted  to  the  whole  party,  to  complain  of  the  inju- 
ries of  a  few.  From  one  end  of  the  state  to  the  other,  the  com- 
plaint rings  that  Bishop  Hughes  and  his  clergy  have  excited  the 
Catholics  against  us.  I  know  this  to  be  untrue,  totally  untrue. 
Who  corrects  the  error?  Who  disavows  the  unjust  charge? 
On  the  contrary,  do  we  not  hear  of  the  organization  of  a  party 
against  Catholics,  and  this  false  charge  made  the  justification  of 
it.  Is  not  "  proscription  of  immigrants''  openly  avowed  as  the 
policy  of  the  whig  party  ?  Does  not  your  letter  avow  it  ?  Read 
it  once  more,  and  see  if  those  denounced  are  not  described  as 
"  foreigners,"  "  aliens,"  and  "  Jesuits,"  and  answer  me  candidly, 
if  I  was  not  excusable  for  supposing  that  the  difference  of  their 
nativity  and  religion  from  our  own,  was  a  ground  of  the  organ- 
ization against  them. 

But  a  truce  to  this.  I  may  be  wrong,  and  I  certainly  do  not 
expect  in  this  way,  to  satisfy  the  world  that  I  am  right.  The 
love  I  bear  you  makes  me  desire  to  remonstrate  with  you,  against 
the  error  you  seem  inclined  to  adopt.  It  is  for  me  of  little  mo- 
ment, but  I  love  the  whig  party.     I  owe  it  much,  and  I  wish  to 


390  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

see  its  power  perpetuated,  and  its  usefulness  complete.  There- 
remains  nothing  more  for  me  to  wish,  but  the  vindication  of  time 
and  history.  Of  that  I  am  sure,  or  if  I  am  not,  I  do  so  love- 
equality  and  philanthropy,  that  I  do  not  wish  to  be  disturbed  in 
my  confidence  in  mankind. 

I  send  your  letter,  chiefly  because  I  wish  you  to  read  it,  in 
order  to  see  that  your  reply  to  my  answer,  is  in  some  respects- 
more  liberal,  than  the  paper  which  called  me  out ;  and,  secondly, 
that  you  may  feel  assured  that  no  improper  use  will  be  made  of 
it.  Bishop  Hughes  is  my  friend.  I  honor,  respect,  and  confide 
in  him.  When  I  read  the  charges  you  preferred  against  him,  I 
felt  as  I  should,  if  he,  or  any  other  friend,  had  written  to  me  un- 
justly concerning  you.  I  should  in  such  a  c;,so  have  desired  to 
give  you  an  opportunity  to  vindicate  yourself.  I  had  no  other 
motive  except  my  desire  to  let  the  world  know  how  wrongly 
they  judge  the  day  after  an  election  which  does  not  go  to  their 
mind. 

And  here  we  will  drop  the  whole  matter,  at  least  I  will,  for  I 
do  not  desire  to  inhibit  you.  I  like  so  well  to  hear  from  you, 
that  I  would  rather  read  your  wayward  reflections  upon  Jesuit- 
ism than  endure  your  silence.  God  bless  you,  whether  you  are 
whig  or  native  American. 


TO  HONOKABLE  LUTHEK  BKADISH. 

Albany,  September  8,   1842. 

My  dear  Sir:  As  was  anticipated,  the  intelligence  from  Syra- 
cuse is  that  you  have  been  nominated  for  the  responsible  and 
honorable  trust  of  governor  of  this  state.  I  beg  leave  to  tender 
you  my  congratulations,  on  an  event  which  so  signally  proves  the 
approbation  of  the  whig  party  of  your  long  and  useful  service  in 
maintaining  its  principles  and  policy  —  principles  and  policy  tend- 
ing so  eminently  to  the  welfare  and  honor  of  the  state,  and  to 
the  restoration  of  the  prosperity  of  the  whole  country.  Having 
nearly  arrived  at  the  end  of  official  responsibilities,  the  wish 
nearest  my  heart  is  that  those  principles  and  policy  may  be 
restored  to  their  complete  ascendency  in  the  state.     I  respect- 


POLITICAL.  391 

fully  tender  to  you,  therefore,  my  earnest  wishes  for  your  success 
in  the  canvass,  and  my  best  exertions,  so  far  as  they  may  be 
proper,  to  promote  that  end. 

With  respect  and  esteem,  increased  by  long  association  in 
public  affairs,  I  am,  dear  sir,  faithfully,  your  friend  and  obedient 
servant. 


TO   HONORABLE  JOHN  C.   CLARK. 

Auburn,  November  4,  1843. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  have  considered  the  information  you  gave  me,  of 
a  mistaken  solicitude  concerning  my  supposed  bias  in  favor  of 
the  abolition  candidates,  and  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Clay.  I  should 
certainly  leave  those  apprehensions  to  the  correction  of  time,  as  I 
have  done  in  many  similar  cases,  if  it  were  not  that  an  election 
is  at  hand,  whose  results  might  hereafter  be  supposed  to  have 
had  some  influence  on  my  political  conduct, 

You  are  therefore  at  liberty  to  publish,  in  any  way  you  think 
proper,  that  while  I  adhere,  and  expect  to  adhere  as  long  as 
I  live,  to  my  published  principles  and  sentiments  concerning 
slavery,  I  still  adhere  just  as  firmly,  and  expect  to  adhere  just  as 
long,  to  the  whig  party  and  its  candidates,  through  all  changes  of 
time  and  circumstances.  I  shall  do  this  for  the  simple  reason  that 
I  regard  the  whig  party,  as  the  party  through  whose  action  wise 
measures  and  beneficent  legislation  must  chiefly  be  secured.  The 
two  state  central  committees  at  Albany,  in  August  last,  issued  a 
circular,  recommending  the  appointment  of  delegates  by  district 
conventions  during  the  present  autumn ;  and  recommended,  fur- 
ther, that  the  delegates  so  to  be  appointed  should  be  instructed  to 
vote  for  Henry  Clay  as  the  candidate  of  the  whig  party,  already 
spontaneously  nominated  and  universally  acknowledged  through- 
out the  state.  Those  recommendations  have  been  adopted  in 
every  electoral  district.  I  venture  to  state,  without  asking  pre- 
vious leave  of  the  committees,  that  those  recommendations  were 
made  by  the  central  committee  on  my  suggestion  and  in  my  own, 
language. 

Your  friend  and  obedient  servant. 


392  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO  GEORGE  R.   BABCOCK,  ESQUIRE. 

Albany,  January   30,  1844. 

Dear  Sir  :  The  letter  of  the  central  corresponding  committee 
of  the  whigs  of  Erie  county,  inviting  me  to  visit  Buffalo,  has 
just  been  received. 

If  we  admit  that  the  former  policy  of  the  state  of  New  York, 
commenced  under  the  auspices  of  De  Witt  Clinton  and  prose- 
cuted by  his  successors,  exceeded  the  civic  achievements  of  any 
other  state,  we  must  now  confess  that  we  have  recently  been 
called  to  witness  mortifying  caprices  of  faction.  The  partisans 
now  in  power  heretofore  commenced  and  patronized  public 
works,  worthy  of  a  free  and  enlightend  state.  Unfortunately 
they  adhered  to  a  favorite  national  chief,  who  brought  the  coun- 
try to  the  verge  of  ruin.  Expelled  from  the  public  councils  for 
this  great  error,  they  retaliated  upon  the  people,  and  in  their 
auger  made  war,  not  only  upon  the  public  credit,  but  even  upon 
their  own  enterprises,  which  had  fallen  to  the  care  of  the  whig 
administration. 

Who  that  sees  the  innumerable  army  of  contractors  here,  be- 
sieging the  canal  board  and  legislature  for  damages  for  violated 
contracts,  would  believe  that,  with  unimportant  exceptions,  every 
one  of  these  contracts  was  made  by  the  very  statesmen  who  now 
disavow  and  disown  them?  Who  that  surveys  the  ruins  of  the 
enlargement  of  the  Erie  canal,  stretching  through  the  northern 
part  of  the  state,  and  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad  scat- 
tered through  all  the  southern  counties,  can  believe  that  the 
same  statesmen  who  now  denounce  those  works  are  the  same 
persons  who  called  the  latter  enterprise  into  existence  by  a  loan 
of  three  millions,  and  who  promised  in  1838  that  the  former 
should  be  brought  into  complete  operation  in  the  spring  of  1845. 
Who  that  sees  the  people  paying  a  tax  of  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars  annually,  while  the  public  works  remain  hopelessly  sua- 


POLITICAL.  393 

pended,  can  believe  that  tlie  partisans  who  adopted  this  policy- 
are  the  same  who  promised  in  1835,  1836,  1837,  and  1838,  that 
all  the  public  works  could  be  completed  from  the  canal  revenue 
without  any  taxation  whatever. 

Yet  all  this  is  true  ;  and,  what  is  more  extraordinary  still,  these 
statesmen  have  periled  political  fortune  and  fame,  on  an  experi- 
ment upon  public  credulity,  so  absurd  as  the  attempt  to  perpet- 
uate a  false  belief  that  these  public  works  and  all  their  financial 
responsibilities  began  with,  and  belonged  to,  an  intervening 
administration  that  added  no  new  enterprise,  and  only  executed 
the  contracts  which  it  found  in  existence.  Did  ever  political 
humiliation  exceed  this? 

How  sure,  safe,  and  honorable,  is  the  position  of  the  whig 
party,  in  regard  to  the  great  subject  of  improvement?  Disavow- 
ing nothing  that  they  ever  undertook,  and  cheerfully  sustaining 
through  all  adverse  circumstances  the  faith  and  honor  of  the 
state  pledged  by  their  opponents,  without  reproaching  those  op- 
ponents for  even  unpardonable  errors,  the  whig  party  wait  while 
this  brief  season  of  commercial  distrust  is  passing  away,  and 
then  a  generous  and  just  public  will  call  upon  them  to  execute 
designs  which  their  opponents  had  the  privilege  to  commence, 
and  the  imbecility  to  abandon  and  repudiate  in  the  very  hour  of 
their  completion. 

Equal  fatuity  is  exhibited  by  our  opponents  in  regard  to  na- 
tional interests.  ~Not  content  with  prostrating  government  credit, 
and  driving  states  to  insolvency  and  repudiation,  by  snatching 
from  them  the  proceeds  of  the  public  domain,  they  wait  only  the 
re-election  of  their  unfortunate  chief  to  give  us  again  the  bitter 
fruits  of  the  sub-treasury  for  our  present  reviving  hopes,  and,  in 
exchange  for  our  excellent  tariff,  a  false  free-trade  system,  which 
would  only  leave  us  free  to  be  inundated  with  foreign  fabrics, 
and  free  to  be  exhausted  of  our  productions  without  adequate 
reward. 

But  there  are  indications  that  the  time  for  the  restoration  of 
whig  men  and  measures  is  at  hand,  and  the  best  of  these  indica- 
tions is  the  solicitude  and  despondency  of  our  opponents.  They 
plainly  show  that  they  are  conscious  of  having  gone  too  far,  and 
manifest  a  reluctant  and  halting  conversion  to  our  measures. 
Thus,  here,  they  have  at  last  discovered  that  it  is  not  a  crime  to 
assert  that  one  human  being  can  not  be  the  property  of  another. 


394  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

They  have  even  advanced  somewhat  toward  the  resumption  of 
the  public  works.  The  question  is  gravely  debated  among  them, 
but  with  all  commendable  caution,  whether,  notwithstanding  the 
absolute  and  perpetual  obligation  of  the  tax  and  stop-law  of  1842, 
a  decaying  canal-bridge  may  not  be  preserved,  provided  the 
work  be  done  under  the  head  of  repairs. 

So,  in  "Washington,  we  are  quite  supplanted  by  our  opponents 
on  our  old  whig  ground  of  the  right  of  petition,  and  one  year's 
grace  is  extended  to  the  tariff-law,  whose  details  they  disapprove, 
and  whose  principles  they  absolutely  condemn. 

Be  pleased  to  assure  your  associates  that  my  heart,  my  whole 
heart,  is  with  them  in  their  noble  efforts,  and  whatever  I  can  do 
to  promote  their  success  shall  be  done  with  as  much  zeal  and 
energy  as  I  have  ever  possessed. 

With  sincere  respect  and  esteem,  your  obedient  servant. 


TO   THE   WHIGS    OF    ORLEANS. 

Auburn,  May  18,   1844. 

Gentlemen  :  I  have  engagements  in  the  courts,  which  oblige 
me  to  decline  your  kind  invitation,  to  address  the  whigs  of 
Orleans  county,  on  the  3d  of  July. 

We  are  told  that  it  was  said  of  the  gallant  duke  of  Guise,  by 
his  cotemporaries,  that  he  was  the  greatest  usurer  in  France,  for 
he  had  turned  all  his  estates  into  obligations.  I  feel  that  this  is 
true  of  myself.  I  am  under  obligations  to  the  whigs  of  every 
region  of  the  state,  and  now  when  they  are  calling  upon  me  from 
many  counties,  to  second  renewed  efforts  in  their  good  cause, 
my  professional  duties  scarcely  leave  me  time  to  make  becoming 
acknowledgment.  I  wish,  indeed,  that  my  poor  abilities  were 
not  overvalued.  I  wish  the  whigs  of  Orleans  county  knew  as 
well  as  I  do,  how  much  better  justice  their  own  senator,  Gideon 
Hard,  could  do  their  principles  and  their  cause  than  I  could. 

I  am  glad  to  hear  of  these  mass-meetings,  whig  mass-meetings, 
mass-meetings  of  all  parties  ;  they  are  the  right  agencies.  He 
was  a  wise  man  who  said,  "  If  you  will  have  a  tree  bear  more 
fruit  than  it  hath  been  used  to  do,  it  is  not  anything  you  can  do 


POLITICAL.  395 

to  the  boughs,  but  it  is  the  stirring  of  the  earth,  and  putting  new 
mould  about  the  roots,  that  must  work  it."  Our  Revolutionary 
sires  sung  of  the  "Tree  of  Liberty"  they  planted  and  watered 
with  blood,  and  we  who  rest  under  its  branches,  justly  boast  of 
its  fruits,  and  rejoice  in  its  protection. 

Yet  the  exile,  though  invited  from  other  lands,  too  often  finds 
himself  an  unwelcome  intruder  beneath  its  shade.  Masses  of  our 
countrymen  too  hastily  seize  and  satisfy  themselves  with  its  tin- 
ripened  fruits,  while,  to  a  whole  race,  it  yields  nutriment  as  bitter 
as  apples  of  Sodom.  Let  us  stir  the  earth  then,  and  apply  to  the 
roots  of  our  noble  tree,  the  fresh  mould  of  knowledge  and  reli- 
gion, so  shall  it  produce  for  all  alike  and  abundantly,  the  sweet 
fruits  of  peace,  security,  and  virtue. 

Gentlemen,  let  the  whigs  of  the  eighth  district  look  to  this ; 
they  are  not  mere  partisan  politicians  of  the  day,  or  of  the  season, 
politicians  from  interest,  or  from  expediency.  When  I  had  the 
honor  to  be  elected  chief-magistrate  of  this  state,  I  received  in 
the  eighth  district  a  majority  equal  to  my  entire  majority  in 
the  state.  During  the  short  interval  of  seven  weeks  between  my 
election  and  my  inauguration,  I  received  more  than  a  thousand 
applications  for  office.  Of  those  applications  two  only  came 
from  beyond  the  Cayuga  Bridge.  To  that  region  I  look  con- 
tinually, confidingly,  and  always,  for  the  spirit  which  shall  not 
merely  restore  prosperity  where  it  has  been  lost,  but  which  shall 
constantly  renovate  and  regenerate  society. 

Look  at  our  neglected  and  decaying  public  works.  Who  shall 
renew  and  complete  them  but  the  whigs  ?  Look  at  the  tariff-law, 
which  constitutes  our  system  of  protection,  passed  in  the  senate 
of  the  United  States  on  compulsion,  by  a  casting  vote  perfidiously 
pledged  to  its  speediest  possible  repeal.  Who  has  saved  it  but 
the  whigs?  Look  at  the  stain  of  repudiation  on  our  national 
honor.  Who  shall  efface  it  but  the  whigs  ?  Look  at  the  intoler- 
ance, turbulence,  conflagrations,  and  shedding  of  blood,  in  the 
streets  of  an  eastern  city,  and  say  how  shall  such  crimes  be 
averted  but  by  establishing  the  truth,  that  all  men  are  equal 
before  the  constitution  and  the  laws.  And  who  shall  do  this  but 
the  whigs,  who  always  maintained  the  supremacy  of  the  laws  ? 

Look  at  the  threatened  extension  of  our  territory,  for  the  mere 
purpose  of  extending  the  domain  of.  slavery,  and  adding  new 
bulwarks  to  support  that  accursed  institution.     Who  shall  post- 


396  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

pone  this  evil  now  ?  A  whig  senate.  Who  can  prevent  it  here- 
after bnt  a  whig  administration,  and  a  whig  Congress?  An'" 
who  shall  lead  the  way  in  these  great  measures,  but  the  whigs 
of  western  New  York?  Who  led  the  way  in  1837,  and  1838, 
and  in  1840  ?  And  who  is  so  fit  a  leader  as  Henry  Clay,  whose 
«elf-sacrificing  patriotism,  has  so  often  postponed  its  own  rewards 
to  save  the  interest,  the  peace,  and  the  welfare  of  his  country? 
I  am,  gentlemen,  with  great  respect,  your  humble  servant. 


TO  BENJAMIN  SQUIRE,  ESQ.,  AND  OTHERS. 

Aubuen,  June  7,  1844. 

Gentlemen  :  Absence  from  home,  and  illness,  of  which  I  am 
only  convalescent,  have  so  far  deranged  my  business,  that  I  could 
not  possibly  accept  the  invitation  extended  to  me  in  so  gratifying 
a  manner  by  you,  as  the  whig  corresponding  committee  of  St. 
Lawrence  county,  and  the  central  committee  of  the  Clay  club 
of  that  county. 

Your  names  bring  up  a  vivid  remembrance  of  the  hospitalities 
bestowed  upon  me  during  my  visit  to  the  banks  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence in  1839.     I  shall  ever  cherish  that  remembrance. 

Gentlemen,  I  remember  well,  that  when  I  had  surveyed  the 
agricultural,  mineral,  and  forest  resources  of  St.  Lawrence  and 
Franklin  counties,  on  the  occasion  to  which  I  have  referred,  I 
reflected  that,  if  the  constitution  had  disqualified  every  person 
from  a  seat  in  the  legislature  until  he  had,  once  at  least,  visited 
every  county  in  the  state,  your  great  and  growing  community 
would  already  have  had  a  perfect  communication  with  the  cities 
of  the  Hudson.  No  man  can  explore  the  valley  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence without  being  convinced  that,  either  New  York  must 
seasonably  open  a  perfect  avenue  from  that  valley  to  her  own 
tide-waters,  or  that  the  commerce  of  the  northern  portion  of  this 
continent  will  seek  its  depot  below  the  rapids  of  Montmorenci, 
and  that  empire  will  follow  trade.'  This,  I  am  well  aware,  is  not 
the  most  propitous  time  for  speculations  like  these.  It  was  long 
a  question  with  me,  how  it  was  that  John  Quincy  Adams  was 
bolder,  more  resolute,  and  more  devoted,  in  the  cause  of  hu- 


POLITICAL.  39T 

inanity,  than  all  of  his  cotemporaries.  I  found  the  explanation 
in  the  motto  impressed  upon  the  seal  of  a  letter  from  that  illus- 
trious statesman,  "  Alteri  seculo."  So  it  may  be  allowed  to  me,, 
my  day  of  public  service  being  past,  to  consider  not  alone,  what 
is  the  sentiment  prevailing  this  day,  or  this  year,  on  the  subject 
of  internal  improvement,  but  what  principles  will  abide  the  test 
of  time,  and  the  judgment  of  posterity. 

They  tell  us,  gentlemen,  that  we  must  take  immediate  posses- 
sion of  Texas,  and  Oregon,  or  England  will.  I  humbly  say,  on 
the  contrary,  that  England  will  take  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other,  until  she  has  secured  tranquillity  and  the  blessings  of  equal 
government  to  Ireland.  I  say  more,  that  England  can  dispense- 
with  the  cotton-fields  of  Texas,  and  with  the  passes  of  the  Rocky 
mountains,  if  we  will  only  stand  by  while  she  perfects  the  navi- 
gation of  the  St.  Lawrence. 

In  the  tour  to  which  I  have  adverted,  I  observed  that  the 
counties  of  Clinton,  St.  Lawrence,  Franklin,  and  Jefferson,  in 
many  parts  as  prosperous  as  any  in  the  state,  were  largely  colon- 
ized, not  by  emigrants  from  the  Connecticut,  the  Hudson,  and 
the  Delaware,  like  western  New  York,  but  by  natives  of  French 
Canada,  Ireland,  England,  and  Scotland,  whose  devotion  to 
liberty  had  induced  them  to  erect  their  log-cabins  on  the  south- 
ern instead  of  the  northern  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  There  was 
some  confusion  of  tongues,  and  the  cross  of  the  Catholic  church 
was  seen  everywhere  side  by  side  with  the  spire  of  the  Protestant 
temple.  It  was  impossible  to  distinguish  whether  the  fields  had 
been  sown  by  Protestant  or  by  Catholic  hands.  The  same  sun 
and  showers  ripened  the  fields  of  both.  Contentment  and  har- 
mony seemed  to  prevail  every  where ;  and  on  an  occasion  which 
elicited  expressions  of  patriotism  from  all  classes  and  conditions 
of  men,  you  may  well  remember  that  the  voluntary  citizens  were 
as  enthusiastic  as  those  whose  blood  had  filtered  through  one  or 
more  generations  on  the  American  soil.  I  said  to  myself,  let  him 
who  distrusts  the  instincts  of  freedom,  and  the  capability  of  men 
born  under  oppression  to  become  true  and  worthy  citizens  of  a 
republican  state,  come  here  and  learn  the  truth,  yet  widely  dis- 
credited, though  it  was  taught  by  the  Great  Master  of  human 
reason,  and  was  practically  adopted  by  the  great  expounder  of 
American  democracy,  that  liberal  naturalization  is  an  element 
of  empire. 


398  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

I  should  delight,  gentlemen,  to  revive  these  recollections,  and 
to  profit  again  by  instructions  which  I  am  sure  no  man  pretend- 
ing to  be  a  statesman  could  fail  to  receive  from  the  scenes  and 
from  the  people  of  the  valley  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  There  the  truth 
must  break  in  upon  every  candid  mind,  that  the  great  political 
question  between  the  contending  parties  of  our  day  is,  whether 
the  national  peace  shall  be  put  in  jeopardy,  the  national  honor 
be  forfeited,  and  the  national  wealth  and  treasure  be  expended 
to  give  enlargement,  security,  and  perpetuity,  to  southern  slavery 
which  for  ever  drags  us  down  to  the  earth,  or  whether  impartial 
public  councils  shall  leave  the  free  and  vigorous  north  and  west 
to  work  out  the  welfare  of  the  country,  and  drag  the  reluctant 
south  up,  to  participate  in  the  same  glorious  destinies. 

But,  gentlemen,  these  are  truant  conceptions  which  time  and 
circumstances  will  not  permit  me  to  expand.  They  will  occur  to 
your  minds  more  forcibly  than  I  can  express  them,  and  I  am  per- 
suaded they  will  lead  to  a  wiser  and  a  better  administration  of 
public  affairs  than  has  ever  yet  been  enjoyed.  I  tender  you  my 
sincere  congratulations  on  the  great  success  which  has  attended 
the  whig  party  thus  far  in  the  present  conflict.  We  have  obliged 
our  opponents  to  change  their  leader  on  the  very  eve  of  battle. 
Let  us  take  care  to  convince  them  that  our  opposition  was  not 
because  their  chief  was  personally  obnoxious,  but  because  his 
principles  rendered  him  so,  and  that  if  they  wish  to  regain  the 
confidence  of  the  American  people,  they  must  confess  before 
mankind  that  the  American  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire,  that 
government  possesses  lawful  power  to  improve  the  earth  for  the 
habitation  of  men,  that  the  executive  authority  of  the  American 
government  is  limited  and  to  be  held  in  just  subordination  to  the 
legislature,  that  the  right  of  the  people  to  petition  Congress  is 
inviolable,  that  suffrage  ought  to  be  a  condition  of  submission  to 
government, .and  that  they  who  endeavor  to  fortify  human  sla- 
very attempt  a  labor  as  fruitless  as  the  erection  of  fortresses  on 
the  overflowing  sands  of  the  seashore. 

I  remain,  gentlemen,  with  the  most  grateful  esteem  and  re- 
spect, your  humble  servant. 


POLITICAL  399 


TO  THE  WHIGS  OF  MICHIGAN. 

Auburn,  June  12,  1844 

Dear  Sir  :  The  whig  state  central  committee  of  Michigan 
could  hardly  have  been  conscious  how  seductive  would  be  the 
call  they  were  making  upon  me  in  their  invitation  for  the  4th  of 
July  next. 

But,  my  dear  sir,  I  have  been  long  a  truant  to  domestic  duties, 
and  neglectful  of  personal  interests.  The  inconveniences  of  this 
error  must  be  corrected.  I  can  not,  therefore,  gratify  my  desires 
to  see  the  west  at  this  juncture. 

I  should  more  deeply  regret  this,  if  I  had  the  vanity  to  believe 
for  a  moment  that  what  I  could  say  would  at  all  promote  the 
success  of  the  whig  party  in  Michigan.  I  could  only  speak  of 
the  beneficent  operations  of  the  tariff,  and  invoke  the  people  of 
Michigan  to  let  it  stand ;  of  the  desirableness  of  saving  the  avails 
of  the  public  lands,  and  applying  them  to  education,  and  the 
improvement  of  our  interior  communications  by  land  and  by 
water;  and  invoke  the  aid  of  the  people  of  Michigan,  in  favor 
of  a  policy  more  important  even  to  them  than  to  the  state  to 
which  I  belong ;  of  the  deplorable  error  of  adding  bulwarks 
to  the  falling  institution  of  slavery,  which  is  the  chief  cause  of 
all  our  national  calamities,  and  the  only  source  of  national  dan- 
ger, and  implore  the  free  people  of  Michigan,  "  to  stand  by  the 
cause  of  human  freedom ;"  and  of  the  importance  of  liberal 
naturalization,  as  a  chief  element  in  our  growing  empire,  and 
appeal  to  the  enlightened  people  of  Michigan  to  instruct  their 
elder  brethren  of  the  east  on  a  principle  which  lies  at  the  base  of 
Western  prosperity.  But  there  can  be  no  need  of  such  appeals 
to  such  a  people,  and  at  least,  I  should  have  no  special  claims  on 
the  attention  of  those  whom  I  should  address. 

Accept,  for  yourself  and  associates,  assurances  of  my  high 
respect. 


400  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO  CALVIN  TOWNSLEY,  ESQ.,  AND  OTHERS. 

Auburn,  June  12,  1844. 

Gentlemen  :  Indisposition  prevented  a  seasonable  acknowledg- 
ment of  your  very  kind  letter  of  May  22d,  inviting  me  to  attend 
the  annual  whiff  convention  of  the  state  of  Vermont  on  the  3d 
of  July  next. 

I  have  just  now  received  a  letter  from  D.  "W.  C.  Clark,  Esq., 
one  of  your  number,  informing  me  that  the  time  for  the  assem- 
bling of  the  convention  has  been  changed  to  the  26th  of  June. 

Whatever  might  have  been  the  state  of  my  engagements  with 
reference  to  the  day  first  designated,  it  is  altogether  out  of  my 
power  to  visit  Vermont  on  the  26th  instant.  There  is  a  town  in 
this  senate  district,  named  West  Bloomfield,  which  has  been  to 
this  state  what  Vermont  has  been  to  the  Union ;  that  is  to  say, 
whig  always,  and  always  in  favor  of  the  supremacy  of  the  laws, 
public  order,  freedom  of  conscience,  equality  of  human  rights, 
and  the  advancement  of  civilization. 

I  am  under  an  engagement  to  visit  that  little,  but  enlightened 
and  patriotic,  community  on  the  26th  inst.  They  are  my  neigh- 
bors,  and  whenever  I  have  been  in  public  life,  they  were  among 
the  kindest  and  most  liberal  of  my  constituents. 

I  can  not  doubt  that  this  will  be  a  satisfactory  apology  for 
declining  the  invitation  with  which  you  have  honored  me. 

You  are  pleased  to  intimate,  gentlemen,  that  you  desire  my 
coming  to  Vermont  on  account  of  the  sentiments  I  hold,  and  the 
course  I  pursue,  in  regard  to  the  questions  arising  out  of  slavery. 
I  have  not  the  honor  to  know  your  worthy  governor,  John  Mat- 
tocks. But  I  beg  leave  to  say  that  I  have  studied  his  course,  and 
that  of  the  whig  party  in  Vermont.  They  are  worthy  the  intel- 
ligence and  patriotism  of  the  state,  and  explain  to  my  satisfaction 
the  steady,  undiminished  brilliancy  of  the  star  of  the  north.  Re- 
nominate John  Mattocks;  or  if,  for  his  convenience  or  the  pub- 


POLITICAL.  401 

lie  interest,  it  be  expedient  to  change,  then  nominate  some  such 
true,  liberty-loving  whig,  and  renew  your  declaration  that  the 
extension  of  human  slavery  is  at  war  with  the  principles  of  the 
whig  party,  and  that  emancipation  is  among  the  great  works  to 
which  that  party  is  devoted ;  and  you  may  rest  assured  that  the 
echo  from  the  Green  mountains  will  be  the  most  cheering  sound 
that  ever  reached  the  sage  of  Ashland. 

Gentlemen,  accept  my  profound  and  grateful  acknowledgments 
for  the  words  of  respect  and  kindness  you  have  addressed  to  me. 
They  add  to  the  pleasure  with  which  I  look  out  upon  the  bustling 
world  around  me,  and  to  the  last  moment  of  consciousness  they 
will  be  remembered  as  among  the  evidences  of  the  liberality  and 
kindness  of  my  fellow-men. 

I  am,  with  very  great  respect,  your  humble  servant. 


TO   GEORGE  ASHMUN,  ESQ.,  AND   OTHEES 

Auburn,  July  29,  1844. 

Gentlemen  :  The  earliest  studies  of  every  citizen  in  the  history 
of  democracy  in  America  carry  him  at  once  to  Faneuil  Hall,  the 
council-chamber  of  Boston,  and  to  Lexington  and  Bunker  hill, 
the  battle-fields  of  Massachusetts. 

When  sedition  raised  her  thousand  clamors,  and  fears  of  the 
dissolution  of  the  Union  came  thick  and  fast  upon  me  in  a  for- 
eign land,  opening  a  sad  perspective  of  commotions,  declining 
public  virtue,  and  the  calamities  of  endless  civil  war,  the  voice 
of  Massachusetts,  delivered  by  Daniel  Webster,  defending  our 
glorious  constitution — not  for  her  interests,  or  her  sake,  or  her 
glory  alone,  but  for  the  peace,  welfare,  and  happiness,  of  the 
whole  American  people  —  quelled  the  storm,  dispelled  the  alarm, 
and  assured  mankind  of  the  stability  of  "  liberty  and  union,  then 
and  for  ever,  one  and  inseparable." 

Whenever  and  wherever  fraud  has  framed  a  mine  to  subvert  a 
pillar  of  the  constitution,  or  power  has  meditated  a  blow  against 
the  people,  or  against  a  citizen,  or  against  an  exile,  or  against  a 
slave,  against  anything  in  the  shape  of  a  free  society,  or  against 
anything  in  the  shape  of  a  man,  John  Quincy  Adams,  of  Massa- 

Yol.  III.— 26 


402  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE 

chusetts,  has  been  seen  watching  the  design  with  eagle  eye ;  and 
in  the  moment  of  the  attempted  perpetration  of  the  crime,  the 
conspirators  fell,  the  intended  victim  rose  free  and  safe,  and  the 
deliverer,  unrewarded  and  unthanked,  set  himself  again  on  his 
endless  watch  for  the  cause  of  freedom  and  humanity. 

If  I  could  be  allowed  to  sit  in  the  silence  that  would  become 
me  in  the  proposed  gathering  of  the  whigs  of  Massachusetts,  or 
if  they  would  be  content  with  my  merely  expressing  the  venera- 
tion and  reverence  I  cherish  for  them  and  her,  I  might  be  per- 
suaded to  accept  the  hospitalities  tendered  to  me.  But  they  have 
another  object:  I  am  required  to  speak.  Massachusetts  and  her 
sons  "  stand  there,"  needing  no  praise  from  me,  and  asking  none. 
My  life  has  already  become  a  living  offence  against  my  own  con- 
victions of  propriety.  I  can  not  instruct,  nor  can  I  consent  to 
seem  as  if  I  thought  I  could  instruct,  those  from  whom  it  is  my 
pride  to  learn.  I  must  therefore,  gentlemen,  again  decline  your 
kind  invitation.  But  I  will  second  in  this  state  your  noble  efforts 
for  Clay  and  the  constitution  with  what  ability  I  possess.  Past 
relations  excuse  my  advocacy  here,  and  it  seems  not  altogether 
unbecoming,  because  it  is  at  least  dutiful  and  grateful. 

Accept,  gentlemen,  renewed  assurances  of  grateful  and  affec- 
tionate respect  and  friendship. 


TO   JARYIS   N.    LAKE,    ESQ. 

Albany,  August  19,   1844. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  After  an  absence  virtually  of  two  months,  I 
enjoy  two  days  repose  at  home.  Among  the  letters  which  await- 
ed my  return,  was  an  invitation  to  the  Herkimer  county  mass 
meeting,  to  be  held  on  the  29th  instant.  My  dear  sir,  I  can  not 
accept  this  invitation.  The  summer  is  nearly  spent,  sere  and 
yellow  leaves  are  already  seen  in  the  forests,  and  my  summer's 
work  and  studies  are  scarcely  begun.  I  have  absolute  engage- 
ments in  Tompkins  and  Cortland  counties,  and  along  the  frontier, 
which  will  engross  all  the  time  that  I  can  possibly  spare  during 
the  remainder  of  the  canvass.  I  remember  all  my  obligations  to 
the  indomitable  whigs  of  Herkimer  county,  but  I  must  compro- 


POLITICAL.  403 

mise  with  my  political  creditors :  I  can  not  pay  a  shilling  on  the 
pound  of  my  obligations  to  them.  I  know  how  rugged  and  stern 
their  conflict  is  with  the  tenth  legion  of  the  standing  army  of 
Texas,  but  there  are  others  who  can  bring  to  their  aid  powers 
unexhausted  and  vigorous. 

Let  the  friends  of  civil  and  religious  liberty  take  courage.  Ee- 
ligious  intolerance  is  effectually  rebuked.  The  immigrant  and 
his  family  once  more  sleep  in  safety  under  the  protection  of  our 
laws,  and  the  fagot  is  no  longer  applied  to  the  Christian  temple 
because  candles  are  kept  burning  at  its  altars.  We  have  ac- 
quired freedom  of  speech  at  last,  and  can  now  bear  witness 
against  the  crimes  and  cruelties  of  human  slavery.  Ten  years 
ago,  in  Virginia,  I  slept  under  the  same  roof  unknowingly  with 
a  man-merchant,  who  was  driving  ten  children,  each  ten  years 
old,  the  bereaved  of  ten  mothers,  to  the  capital  of  that  ancient 
commonwealth,  whose  motto  was,  "Sie  semper  tyrannis"  there 
to  be  qualified  with  handcraft  trades,  and  then  to  be  sold  in  Texas 
or  other  new  slaveholding  territories. 

For  ten  years  I  have  not  been  allowed  to  write  or  to  speak  of 
this  atrocity,  even  in  this  state.  But  now  we  all  may  testify 
what  we  know,  and  vindicate  the  great  principle  of  human  equal- 
ity in  the  sight  of  God  and  slavery.  The  party  of  the  Albany 
regency  have  been  constantly  the  allies,  the  faithful,  devoted 
allies  of  southern  slavery.  But  their  chicanery  is  at  fault,  and 
their  sceptre  has  departed.  The  annexation  of  Texas  is  identical 
with  the  perpetuation  of  slavery.  Our  opponents  are  for  it  —  the 
whig  party  are  against  it.  If  there  be  in  Herkimer  a  friend  of 
human  freedom  willing  to  follow  my  poor  lead  in  this  sacred 
cause,  I  appeal  to  him  now  as  heretofore,  and  as  I  shall  do  for 
ever,  to  give  his  suffrage  to  the  whig  candidates,  not  for  the  sake 
of  Henry  Clay,  nor  even  for  the  sake  of  the  whig  party,  but  for 
our  country,  for  liberty's  sake,  and  for  the  sake  of  humanity. 
I  am,  very  faithfully,  your  constant  friend. 


4:04  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO   THE   HON.   WASHINGTON   HUNT. 

Auburn,  August  19,  1844. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Having  ascertained  that  the  contingency  which 
I  supposed  might  release  me  from  my  engagements  at  Ithaca  for 
the  21st  instant  will  not  happen,  I  hasten  to  inform  you  that  it  will 
be  altogether  impossible  for  me  to  meet  the  whigs  of  Niagara 
county  on  the  22d  instant.  I  pray  you  to  explain  to  the  commit- 
tee the  reason  of  my  apparent  neglect  of  their  many,  varied,  and 
earnest  invitations.  I  spent  nearly  the  whole  month  of  July  in 
the  supreme  court  at  Utica.  I  have  consumed  one  week  of  the 
present  month  in  a  journey  to  Massachusetts,  and  the  remainder 
in  the  court  for  the  correction  of  errors  at  Buffalo.  Hence  my 
correspondence  has  fallen  into  sad  confusion.  The  kindness  of 
the  people  of  Niagara  county  is  profoundly  and  gratefully  appre- 
ciated. Whatever  political  attachments  toward  myself  have  at 
any  time  existed,  were  cast  with  my  own  hand  into  a  fiery  fur- 
nace. Be  assured  I  value  as  I  ought  every  link  which  has  come 
out  unbroken.  I  sympathize  deeply  with  my  whig  fellow-citizens 
in  the  present  crisis  —  a  crisis  which  seems  to  me  to  involve  the 
maintenance  of  law  and  order,  the  preservation  of  national 
prosperity  and  peace,  the  stability  of  the  constitution,  the  integ- 
rity of  the  American  Union,  and  the  overthrow  of  human  slavery. 
I  deplore  the  infatuation  of  those  who,  appreciating  as  they  might, 
and  as  I  do,  the  latter  object,  suffer  themselves  to  believe  that 
they  can  rightly  or  wisely  stand  indifferent  spectators  of  the  great 
contest. 

I  regard  the  notice  of  a  mass  meeting  anywhere  in  the  state 
of  New  York,  whether  I  am  personally  invited  or  not,  as  calling 
on  me  for  zealous  and  active  co-operation.  During  my  recent 
labor  in  the  western  part  of  the  honored  and  beloved  eighth  dis- 
trict, I  was  met,  as  I  have  been  elsewhere,  by  the  charge  that  I 
was  seeking  to  give  the  vote  of  the  state  of  New  York  to  Henry 


POLITICAL.  405 

Clay  to  secure  a  seat  for  myself  in  his  cabinet.  Permit  me  to 
use  this  occasion  for  one  more  attempt  to  disprove  this  impeach- 
ment. My  poor  efforts  are  paid,  overpaid,  in  advance.  So  far 
as  personal  motives  are  concerned,  I  am  only  trying  to  pay  back, 
though  I  feel  that  I  must  compromise,  and  can  only  pay  a  small 
instalment,  of  my  great  obligations  to  the  people  of  New  York. 
I  desire  to  secure  the  vote  of  New  York,  not  merely  to  Henry 
Clay,  but  to  the  whig  party  —  that  party  to  which  I  look  contin- 
ually for  beneficent  administration  and  for  melioration.  I  honor 
and  revere  Henry  Clay,  as  every  unbiased  and  generous  citizen 
must  do.  I  have  entire  confidence  that  he  will  give  us  an  admin- 
istration worthy  of  the  best  days  of  the  republic,  and,  instead  of 
retarding,  will  promote  the  great  work  of  civil  liberty.. 

But  I  should  labor  just  as  diligently  and  just  as  earnestly  if 
the  party  had  chosen  any  other  representative.  Personally  I 
look  for  nothing  from  Henry  Clay,  and  do  not  know  that  I  should 
under  any  circumstances  be  entitled  to  consideration  from  him. 
But  of  this  I  am  sure,  that,  after  the  experience  I  have  had  of 
public  life,  not  even  he  could  seduce  me  from  the  repose  I  sought, 
though  he  should  offer  me  the  highest  of  all  the  honors  or  the 
most  munificent  of  all  the  rewards  which  he  is  soon  to  dispense  — 
not  as  payment  for  personal  or  partisan  services,  as  our  opponents 
imply,  but  in  the  name,  and  for  the  benefit,  and  for  the  glory,  of 
a  great  and  free  people. 

I  am,  my  dear  sir,  very  faithfully,  your  friend. 


406  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO   JAMES   BKOOKS,  ESQ. 

Auburn,  September  4,  1846. 

Dear  Sir :  The  "New  York  Express"  asserts  that  during  the 
late  campaign  "  I  made  what  the  public  felt  and  knew  to  be  anti- 
Clay  speeches." 

As  this  charge  affects  my  character  for  good  faith,  please  allow 
me  to  say  it  proceeds  from  misinformation. 

The  late  election  seemed  to  me  to  involve  the  stability  of  do- 
mestic industry,  which  had  been  restored  so  recently  and  with 
so  much  difficulty ;  the  continuance  of  peace,  indispensable  to 
the  welfare,  happiness,  and  advancement,  of  the  American  peo- 
ple ;  the  preservation  of  the  public  domain  for  the  general  use  of 
the  country ;  the  maintenance  of  good  faith  with  the  weakest  and 
the  strongest  nations  of  the  earth ;  the  security  of  the  free  states 
against  the  unconstitutional  encroachments  of  the  slaveholding 
parties  in  our  confederacy  ;  and  finally  the  prospects  of  a  peace- 
ful and  speedy  abolition  of  human  slavery,  the  chief  evil  in  our 
country  and  the  great  crime  of  our  age. 

Moved  by  these  considerations,  and  stimulated  by  sentiments 
of  duty  and  gratitude  to  the  whig  party,  I  engaged  in  the  contest 
at  its  beginning,  and  remained  in  the  field  until  the  disastrous 
termination  of  the  conflict. 

Mr.  Clay  was  the  candidate  of  that  party,  and  his  election  was 
indispensable  to  the  success  of  its  cause. 

I  claim  to  have  labored  with  singleness,  sincerity,  zeal,  and 
assiduity,  and  to  have  devoted  to  the  success  of  that  cause,  and 
of  Henry  Clay,  whatever  influence  I  enjoyed,  and  all  the  knowl- 
edge and  ability  I  possessed. 

The  imputation  of  bad  faith  is  untrue,  not  only  in  the  form  in 
which  it  is  conveyed  in  the  sentence  I  have  quoted,  but  in  any 
and  every  form,  and  with  whatever  of  addition,  diminution,  quali- 
fication, or  circumstance,  it  could  be  expressed. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 


POLITICAL  407 


TO   THE   CHAUTAUQUE   CONTENTION. 

Auburn,  March  31,  1846. 

My  Deak  Sik:  Your  letter  of  the  24th  inst,  in  which  you 
inform  me  of  a  desire  entertained  by  yourself  and  others,  to  place 
me  in  nomination  before  the  people  of  the  county  of  Chautauque, 
as  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  a  member  of  the  convention  which 
has  been  called  to  revise  the  constitution  of  this  state,  has  been 
received. 

If  ever  I  should  become  so  miserable  as  to  distrust  mankind,  I 
am  sure  that  my  habitual  confidence  would  be  revived  by  some 
new  act  of  friendship  on  the  part  of  the  whig  citizens  whom  yon 
represent.  Here  is  a  trust,  sought  by  the  most  eminent  persons  in 
the  state,  and  to  be  conferred  by  the  people  of  Chautauque  county, 
among  whom  are  many  as  well  qualified  for  it  as  I  am ;  and  yet, 
it  is  urged  upon  me,  as  if  I  were  not  already  buried  under  similar 
kindnesses  coming  from  the  same  quarter.  It  would  be  ungen- 
erous to  accept  such  an  offer,  under  such  circumstances,  and  no 
man  can  ever  find  a  good  motive  for  an  ungenerous  act.  Every 
personal  reason  which  existed  for  my  continuance  in  private  life, 
still  exists.  Years  have  brought  with  them  an  increase  of  the 
number,  and  the  need  of  those  for  whom  I  labor. 

I  admit  that  the  constitution  must  be  revised,  thoroughly 
revised.  The  state  of  New  York  lie3  in  the  gate  of  the  continent, 
and  has  long  been  receiving  a  full  tide  of  men,  of  knowledge  and 
money,  from  all  the  other  American  states,  as  well  as  from 
Europe,  in  addition  to  natural  increase.  Enjoying  the  instruction 
of  half  a  dozen  colleges,  five  thousand  churches,  twelve  thousand 
schools,  and  as  many  libraries,  the  state  has  alarmed  its  antiquated 
guardians  by  complaints  that  its  condition  is  uncomfortable,  and 
its  energies  cramped  by  the  constitution  assigned  to  it  a  quarter 
of  a  century  ago.  But  all  parties  agree,  not  only  upon  the  neces- 
sity of  revision,  but  upon  all  necessary  amendments  except  one, 


408  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

A  part  of  the  community  hesitate  to  adopt  the  principle  of  uni- 
versal suffrage,  and  weakly  imagine  that  democracy  in  the  state 
of  New  York,  can  be  wisely  clogged  a  little  longer  by  laws  of 
naturalization  and  registry  acts,  operating  on  the  exile ;  and  by 
proscription  of  color  excluding  the  African.  But  the  progress 
already  made  in  exploding  these  errors,  gives  us  an  earnest  of  a 
complete  triumph  of  democratic  whig  principles  in  the  convention. 

The  property  qualification  is  already  renounced,  and  the  oppo- 
nents of  universal  suffrage,  have  fallen  back  upon  the  plea  of  the 
hopeless  debasement  of  the  African  race.  With  the  aid  of  mis- 
taken philanthropists,  they  hope  to  defeat  the  enfranchisemnt  of 
the  colored  man,  by  the  artifice  of  submitting  an  article  for  that 
purpose  to  the  people  separately  from  all  other  amendments  to 
the  constitution.  Let  them  try  that.  "  Whom  the  gods  would 
destroy  they  first  makes  mad."  The  apologists  of  slavery  in 
New  Hampshire  recently  separated  a  kindred  question  from  all 
other  issues,  in  a  popular  election,  with  what  result,  has  been  seen. 

Universal  suffrage  in  this  state  is  not  a  local  question.  Slavery 
continues  in  the  south,  because  the  negroes  there  are  represented 
in  the  public  councils,  and  virtually  vote,  through  their  masters, 
for  perpetual  slavery ;  while  northern  allies  disfranchise  free  ne- 
groes whom  nature  would  oblige  to  cast  their  votes  for  freedom. 
The  evils  of  the  compact  have  become  intolerable.  The  free 
states,  increasing  in  population  and  in  wealth  seventy-five  per 
cent,  more  than  the  slaveholding  states,  have  fallen  into  a  hope- 
less minority.  Their  interests  are  sacrified  at  home,  and  are  be- 
trayed abroad. 

We  have  reached  a  new  stage  in  our  national  career.  It  is 
that  of  territorial  aggrandizement.  Extended  jurisdiction  is  an 
element  of  national  strength,  if  the  moral  condition  of  the  people 
be  sound ;  of  national  weakness  if  that  condition  be  unsound. 
Slavery  has  impoverished  the  states  where  it  exists  so  much, 
that  they  are  incapable  of  endowing  schools,  maintaining  mails, 
constructing  roads,  or  supporting  armies.  With  principles  in 
regard  to  revenue  which  always  prevent  the  general  government 
from  establishing  proper  defence,  the  slaveholding  states  are 
ready  apologists  in  every  case  of  foreign  injustice  and  aggression. 
The  people  have  instructed  the  president  to  maintain  the  Ameri- 
can title  to  the  whole  of  Oregon.  The  president,  thereupon, 
requires   the   consent   of  Congress  for  proper  notice  to  Great 


POLITICAL.  409 

Britain.  Congress  debates  and  hesitates  until  the  effect  of  the 
notice  is  altogether  lost.  It  is  slavery  that  "  doth  make  cowards 
of  us  all,"  and  justly  so.  New  York,  without  a  discontented 
citizen  or  subject  within  her  borders,  would  be  stronger  alone 
than  all  the  twenty-eight  states.  Massachusetts  defied  England 
seventy  years  ago.  She  has  only  one  statesman  who  would  dare 
to  commit  her  to  such  a  conflict  now,  and  he  belongs  to  the 
revolutionary  age,  rather  than  to  this. 

I  want  no  war.  I  want  no  enlargement  of  territory,  sooner 
than  it  would  come  if  we  were  contented  with  "a  masterly 
inactivity."  I  abhor  war,  as  I  detest  slavery.  I  would  not  give 
one  human  life  for  all  the  continent  that  remains  to  be  annexed. 
But  I  can  not  exclude  the  conviction,  that  the  popular  passion  for 
territorial  aggrandizement  is  irresistible.  Prudence,  justice, 
cowardice,  may  check  it  for  a  season,  but  it  will  gain  strength 
by  its  subjugation.  An  American  navy  is  hovering  over  Vera 
Cruz.  An  American  army  is  at  the  heart  of  what  was  Mexico. 
Let  the  Oregon  question  be  settled  when  it  may,  it  will,  never- 
theless, come  back  again.  Our  population  is  destined  to  roll  its 
resistless  waves  to  the  icy  barriers  of  the  north,  and  to  encounter 
oriental  civilization  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  The  monarch s 
of  Europe  are  to  have  no  rest,  while  they  have  a  colony  remain- 
ing on  this  continent.  France  has  already  sold  out.  Spain  has 
sold  out.  We  shall  see  how  long  before  England  inclines  to 
follow  their  example.  It  behooves  us  then,  to  qualify  ourselves 
for  our  mission.  We  must  dare  our  destiny.  We  can  do  this, 
and  can  only  do  it  by  early  measures  which  shall  effect  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  without  precipitancy,  without  oppression, 
without  injustice  to  slaveholders,  without  civil  war,  with  the 
consent  of  mankind,  and  the  approbation  of  Heaven.  The  resto- 
ration of  the  right  of  suffrage  to  freemen  is  the  first  act,  and  will 
draw  after  it  in  due  time,  the  sublime  catastrophe  of  emancipation. 

But  this  act  has  already  opened.  There  is  no  need  for  me  to 
go  upon  the  stage.  Nor  have  I  the  self-conceit  to  believe  that  I 
could  be  at  all  useful.  The  people  of  Chautauque  county  have 
obliged  me  many  times,  and  always  without  solicitation.  They 
must  now  grant  me  one  favor  upon  request,  which  is,  to  leave 
me  in  peace  at  home.  Under  no  circumstances,  and  upon  no 
consideration,  could  I  consent  to  be  a  candidate  for  public  office. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obliged  and  obedient  servant. 


410  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO  THE  OKLEANS  COUNTY  WHIG  MEETING. 

Auburn,  August  21,   1848. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  am  profoundly  grateful  to  the  central  committee 
of  Orleans  county,  for  the  expression  of  respect  and  esteem  with 
which  they  urge  me  to  accept  their  invitation  to  the  council  they 
are  to  hold  at  Albion,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  whig 
national  nomination. 

I  have  sunk  into  professional  enslavement  so  deeply,  that  I 
scarcely  retain  an  abiding-place  at  home,  and  I  am  unable  to 
observe  punctuality  in  my  correspondence.  These  circumstances 
must  plead  my  apology,  not  only  for  my  delay  in  answering  the 
invitation,  but  also  for  my  declining  to  accept  it. 

The  party  which  is  now  administering  the  federal  government 
is  a  party  of  inaction  in  regard  to  education,  industry,  internal 
improvement,  melioration  and  emancipation.  It  is  their  creed 
that  the  powers  of  government  for  beneficent  action  are  very 
limited,  and  that  the  most  benign  and  salutary  function  of  the 
executive  is  to  defeat,  'end  thus  impair  the  legislative  authority. 
At  the  same  time  they  are  ambitious  of  military  renown,  and 
reckless  in  effecting  territorial  aggrandizement  by  fraud  and 
force. 

In  my  judgment  the  type  of  democracy  should  be  peace, 
moderation,  enfranchisement,  and  beneficence.  No  one  is  less 
apt  to  exaggerate  the  merits  of  the  whig  party  in  regard  to  these 
principles  than  I,  who  so  constantly  endeavor  to  stimulate  it  to 
greater  enterprise.  But  after  charging  it  with  all  the  unfaithful- 
ness of  which  it  can  justly  be  accused,  it  still  stands  before  the 
country  and  the  world,  the  American  party,  eminently  devoted 
to  the  great  interests  of  humanity. 

No  member  of  the  party  is  accountable  for  the  selection  of  its 
candidates,  further  than  he  may  have  acted,  or  refrained  from 
acting  in  their  selection.     When  the  selection  has  been  made,  all 


POLITICAL.  411 

that  remains  is  to  decide  whether  the  party  still  deserves  his 
support  in  preference  to  its  adversary.  We  can  not  withhold 
our  support  without  endangering  the  present  success,  and  the 
ultimate  usefulness  of  the  whig  party.  If  it  be  defeated  the 
policy  of  the  present  administration  will  prevail  not  only  now, 
but  for  an  indefinite  period.  No  whig  thinks  for  one  moment  of 
voting  for  the  candidates  of  the  Baltimore  convention ;  but  we 
are  tempted  to  cast  our  suffrages  for  the  third  party.  Is  the  third 
party  more  pure,  or  more  devoted  to  human  liberty  now,  under 
the  lead  of  Martin  Yan  Buren,  than  it  was  four  years  ago,  under 
the  banner  of  James  G.  Birney  ?  I  confess  I  think  it  less  so,  for 
the  life  and  conversation  of  Mr.  Birney  illustrated  the  unique  and 
the  enthusiastic  benevolence  of  the  liberty  party.  Is  the  third 
party  more  likely  to  succeed  now  than  it  was  then  ?  I  see  no 
reason  to  expect  that  it  can  secure  the  electoral  vote  of  any  state 
in  the  Union.  I  honor  Mr.  Yan  Buren  and  his  associates  for 
their  secession  from  a  party  which  is  false  to  freedom.  But  I 
regret  their  error  in  falling  into  the  ranks  of  a  third  party,  whose 
services  in  the  cause  of  human  freedom  are  counteracted,  and 
nearly  balanced  by  their  error  of  indirectly  giving  strength  and 
power  to  the  great  slavery  party  of  the  country.  Every  whig 
vote  cast  for  the  third  party  is  only  a  negative,  a  protest,  against 
the  slavery  party.  Real  friends  of  emancipation  must  not  be 
content  with  protests.  They  must  act  — ■  act  wisely  and  efficiently. 
For  myself,  I  shall  cast  my  suffrage  for  General  Ta}rlor  and 
for  Millard  Fillmore,  freely  and  conscientiously,  on  precisely  the 
same  grounds  on  which  I  have  hitherto  voted  for  whig  candi- 
dates, because  they  are  commended  to  me  by  the  whig  party, 
and  their  success  is  necessary  for  its  continued  and  increasing 
usefulness.  In  the  nurture  and  character  of  the  latter,  we  have 
every  guaranty  that  a  whig  can  desire.  In  the  moderation  of 
the  other,  and  his  desire  to  administer  the  government  as  the 
president  of  the  whole  people,  not  for  mere  partisan  ends,  I  rec- 
ognise claims  to  public  confidence  which  I  have  no  fear  will  ever 
be  disappointed. 


412  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE 


TO    E.    J.    FOWLE,    ESQ.* 

Auburn,  August  26,   1848. 

My  Dear  Sir:  On  my  arrival  here  this  morning,  after  spend- 
ing two  weeks  in  Livingston  and  Seneca  counties,  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  finding  your  letter  of  the  23d  instant. 

The  contents  of  that  communication  excited  my  surprise. 
Having  happened  to  be  in  Albany  two  weeks  ago,  or  perhaps 
three,  Mr.  Weed  showed  me  a  letter  from  you,  containing  the 
agreeable  information  that  the  political  discontents  in  your 
county  had  subsided,  and  that  the  whigs  were  rallying  to  the 
standard  of  the  cause. 

Your  letter  to  me  is  full  of  a  despondency  that  makes  me 
hope  it  proceeded  from  only  a  depression  of  spirits,  naturally 
enough  produced  by  the  inappropriate  and  unreasonable  letters 
of  our  candidate  for  president.  In  the  whole  state  there  are 
scarcely  any  persons  in  whose  correctness  of  judgment  upon 
political  questions  I  rely  with  more  confidence  than  on  yours, 

Judge 's,  or  Mr. 's.     I  shall  deem  your  apprehensions 

worthy  of  profound  consideration,  if  you  continue  to  indulge 
them  for  any  period  of  time.  But  you  will  excuse  me  for  say- 
ing, on  my  part,  that  I  do  not  find  reason  to  distrust  the  success 
of  our  candidates  in  the  country,  and  especially  in  this  state,  in 
the  events  which  are  passing  before  us.  I  perceive,  as  you  do, 
the  mischievous  effects  of  the  letters  to  which  you  refer.  But  I 
am  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  I  expect  the  disorganization  of 
the  opposite  party  will,  in  some  degree,  impair  our  own  organiza- 
tion. I  fear  also  that  there  may  be  some  districts  where  this  evil 
may  jeopard  or  otherwise  ruin  local  ascendency.  Yet  on  the 
other  hand,  there  seems  to  me  no  room  for  doubt  that  the  state 
of  things  so  peculiar  will  result  in  giving  to  our  candidates  in 

*  Letter  on  the  "Albany  Meeting"  in  opposition  to  General  Taylor. 


POLITICAL.  4ia 

this  state  a  very  large  majority  over  each  of  the  opposing  candi- 
dates—  while  in  other  states  the  result  will  be  the  same  where 
circumstances  are  similar,  and  quite  as  favorable  where  they  are 
different.  If  you  answer  me  that  these  local  losses  can  not  be 
borne,  I  reply  that,  in  the  first  place,  they  must  be  prevented  if 
possible  ;  and  in  the  next  place,  they  are  quite  certain  to  be  bal- 
anced by  gains  elsewhere. 

I  have  the  pleasure  to  add,  on  this  subject,  that  so  far  as  my 
communications  extend,  I  find  our  friends  engaged  with  zealr 
and  with  certain  confidence  of  success. 

For  more  than  ten  years  past,  I  have  looked  to  the  day  of 
ripening  of  conscience  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  to  which  you 
refer,  and  have  endeavored  to  do  what  was  in  my  power  to  pre- 
pare the  whig  party  to  profit  by  it,  not  for  mere  personal  or  par- 
tisan ends,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  country  and  of  humanity. 
You  know  that  every  concession  to  or  for  slavery  by  the  whig 
party  for  ten  years  past,  has  been  a  triumph  over  me.  But  there 
are  two  things,  neither  of  which  I  can  ever  do.  The  one  is,  to 
share  the  responsibility  of  any  such  concession  ;  the  other  is,  to 
oppose  a  candidate  of  the  national  whig  party.  All  the  whigs 
of  New  York  (to  whom  I  owe  so  much)  could  not  oblige  or  in- 
duce me  to  do  one  or  the  other  of  these  acts.  Any  other  duty 
they  may  require  at  my  hands,  will  be  cheerfully  rendered. 

I  have  abiding  faith  that  the  whig  party  will  be  successful  in 
the  state  and  in  the  nation  this  fall.  I  have  abiding  faith  that 
this  success  will  favor  the  non-extension  of  slavery.  But  even 
if  we  should  fail  of  success  now,  I  abate  not  a  particle  of  my  con- 
fidence, that  all  that  is  ever  to  be  done  for  freedom  must  originate 
with  the  whig  party,  and,  in  point  of  practicability,  must  be  ac 
complished  by  it. 

Yery  respectfully,  your  friend. 


414:  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO   JAMES   WATSON  WEBB,   ESQ. 

Astor  House,  New  York,  February  1,  1849. 

My  dear  Sir  :  The  letter  which  on  the  27th  of  January  you  ad- 
dressed to  me  at  Philadelphia,  was  received  by  me  this  afternoon. 

In  that  letter,  written  at  Albany,  you  express  an  opinion  that 
the  whig  members  of  the  legislature  will  present  my  name  as  a 
candidate  before  that  body  for  the  office  of  senator.  But  you 
add  that  there  are  many  good  and  true  whigs,  in  both  houses 
of  the  legislature,  who  have  been  made  to  believe,  and  that  there 
are  others  who  pretend  to  think,  that  if  I  should  be  elected  to 
fill  that  very  responsible  trust,  I  would  not  give  General  Taylor's 
administration  a  cordial  support;  that  I  would  represent  the 
feelings  and  wishes  of  a  faction  only  of  the  whig  party,  and  that 
I  would  agitate  unnecessarily  on  the  subject  of  slavery  ;  and 
finally,  that  my  course  would  be  a  radical  one,  and  injurious  to 
General  Taylor's  administration,  and  to  the  harmony  of  the 
Union. 

What  you  tell  me  in  that  respect  does  not  surprise,  and  there- 
fore does  not  grieve  me.  It  is  a  very  natural  apprehension 
excited  by  those  who  have  not  always  sympathized  with  me,  in 
the  policy  which  I  have  pursued  in  the  discussion  of  subjects 
which  have  engaged  public  attention.  But  they  have  been  only 
partial  observers  of  my  course.  I  have  never  expected  nor 
sought  to  accomplish  any  beneficent  measure,  otherwise  than 
through  a  whig  administration  and  the  whig  party.  My  support 
of  a  whig  administration  does  not  depend,  therefore,  on  my 
being  in  public  life  or  in  private  life.  The  honors  and  wealth  of 
a  world  could  not  seduce  me  from  the  support  of  an  administra- 
tion which  the  whig  party  have  called  into  power,  unless  indeed, 
they  themselves  should  first  absolve  me  from  the  obligation  to 
sustain  it.     The  state  of  New  York  is  in  my  estimate  the  model 


POLITICAL.  415 

of  all  republican  communities.  It  is  my  pride  that  I  am  a  mem- 
ber of  it.  My  highest  ambition  has  been  satisfied,  in  having 
been  honored  with  its  confidence.  If  I  go  into  public  life,  I 
shall  be  the  representative  of  the  whole  of  it,  and  of  all  its  inter- 
ests, agricultural,  commercial,  and  political.  But,  inasmuch  as 
no  patriot  can  save  his  country,  except  through  the  co-operation 
of  a  party,  I  shall  be  the  representative  of  the  whig  party  ;  and 
not  of  a  section  or  of  a  faction  of  it,  but  of  that  whole  party,  to 
which  I  sustain  the  most  lasting  obligations.  These  obligations 
may  be  increased  by  further  confidence,  but  they  can  never  be 
cancelled  by  a  denial  of  it. 

In  regard  to  slavery,  I  do  not  know  what  you  mean  by  unne- 
cessary agitation.  As  a  man  and  a  citizen,  I  have  never  been  its 
defender  or  its  apologist;  I  am  sure  I  never  should  be  so  as  a 
magistrate  or  as  a  statesman.  But  those  persons  misapprehend 
me  very  much,  who  suppose  that  I  would  vainly  agitate  even 
that  question  in  the  public  councils ;  and  I  am  not  to  say  now 
for  the  first  time  that  I  hold  that  agitation  vain  by  a  legislator 
which  leads  to  no  practical  results,  and  that  agitation  worse  than 
useless  which,  prosecuted  for  unattainable  purposes,  puts  in  jeop- 
ardy great  existing  interests.  The  union  of  these  states  is  indis- 
pensable, in  my  judgment,  to  the  accomplishment  of  any  good 
even  in  regard  to  the  institution  of  slavery,  and  the  agency  of 
the  whig  party  and  whig  administration  is  the  only  agency  by 
which  it  can  be  effected. 

I  am,  therefore,  I  think,  quite  unlikely  to  put  either  into  jeop- 
ardy. I  am  in  favor,  as  I  think  every  whig  is,  of  circumscribing 
slavery  within  its  present  bounds.  I  am  opposed  to  its  encroach- 
ments, and  I  shall  resist  both  in  whatever  situations  I  may  be 
placed.  I  shall  labor  by  free,  and  kind,  and  peaceful  discussion, 
to  form  public  opinion,  and  direct  it  to  a  constitutional,  lawful, 
and  peaceful  removal  of  it.  But  that  removal  must  be  through 
the  agency  of  those  only  to  whom  its  responsibilities  belong,  and 
the  constitutional  barriers  which  protect  the  slave  states  in  the 
exclusive  right  to  discharge  those  responsibilities,  will  be  as 
sacred  in  my  regard  as  those  which  protect  the  free  states  in 
their  rights. 

As  to  the  radicalism  which  is  imputed  to  me,  I  have  only  to 
say  now,  as  I  have  often  said  to  you  heretofore,  that  the  tenden- 
cies of  republican  institutions  to  the  melioration  of  laws  and  the 


416  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

improvement  of  society,  have  been  my  study ;  I  aim  to  allow 
them  free  operation.  But  I  am  in  favor  only  of  progress  by 
advancement,  peaceful  and  lawful,  not  by  subverting  in  order  to 
build  anew.  To  this  degree  of  radicalism  I  plead  guilty.  More 
than  that,  or  different  from  that,  I  deny. 


TO   JAMES    B.   TAYLOE,   ESQ. 

Washington,  June  26,  1852. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Your  kind  letter  has  been  received.  It  would 
be  presumptuous  on  my  part,  to  suppose  that  any  president  of 
the  United  States  would  at  any  time,  or  under  any  circumstances, 
invite  me  to  a  seat  in  the  executive  council,  and  equally  so  to 
suppose  that  the  senate  of  the  United  States  would  advise  and 
consent  to  such  a  selection.  Nevertheless,  if  there  be  one  whig 
vote  depending  at  this  election  on  the  question  you  have  raised, 
I  will  not  stand  on  a  point  of  personal  delicacy  in  the  effort  to 
save  it.  I  assure  you,  therefore,  with  entire  frankness,  that  under 
no  circumstances  which  I  have  ever  conceived,  or  can  now  con- 
ceive, would  I  ask,  or  even  accept,  any  public  station  or  prefer- 
ment whatever,  at  the  hands  of  the  president  of  the  United  States, 
whether  that  president  were  Winfield  Scott,  or  any  other  man  I 
have  ever  seen  or  known.  In  saying  this,  I  am  only  saying  to 
you  what  was  well  understood  as  a  rule  of  my  conduct,  by  the 
late  and  lamented  President  Taylor,  and  has  been  equally  well 
known  and  understood  by  Winfield  Scott,  from  the  first  hour 
when  my  preference  of  himself  as  the  candidate  in  the  present 
canvass  was  fixed. 

I  am,  with  great  respect  and  esteem,  your  friend  and  humble 
servant. 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS. 


NEW  YOKK   AND   EEIE   KAILROAD. 

Auburn,    October  20,  1834. 

To  the  Citizens  of  Tioga  County  : 

Your  communication  requesting  the  expression  of  my  opinion 
in  relation  to  the  projected  railroad  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hud- 
son river  through  the  southern  tier  of  counties,  has  been  received. 
I  can  not  be  surprised  that  you  have  made  this  application  when, 
as  you  say,  you  see  daily  allusions  in  the  public  prints  to  my  sup- 
posed hostility  to  that  measure.  Yet,  gentlemen,  you  must  be 
aware  that  those  who  are  engaged  in  misrepresenting  my  views, 
will  equally  endeavor  to  prevent  credit  being  given  to  the  sin- 
cerity of  opinions  expressed  upon  a  subject  of  engrossing  interest 
at  such  a  time.  Anxious  as  I  am  to  correct  such  misrepresenta- 
tions, I  could  not  bring  myself  to  appear  in  public,  even  for  that 
purpose,  had  I  not  learned  from  sources  entitled  to  my  confidence, 
that  the  views  of  Governor  Marcy  have  been  solicited  and  are 
confidently  promised  by  his  political  friends  to  be  laid  before  the 
electors.  Under  such  circumstances,  it  would  seem  to  be  unjust 
to  the  generous  and  confiding  party  who  have  made  me  their  can- 
didate, to  suffer  the  great  cause  which  they  maintain  to  receive 
injury  from  my  silence.  You,  however,  gentlemen,  will  bear 
witness,  that  I  have  not  sought  this  opportunity  of  appearing 
before  the  public,  and  that  in  doing  so,  I  yield  to  the  considera- 
tions already  expressed. 

It  is  wholly  untrue  that  I  am  hostile  to  the  projected  railroad 
from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Hudson  river  through  the  southern  tier  of 

Vol.  III.— 27 


418  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

counties.  The  vote  which  I  gave  in  the  senate  upon  an  inciden- 
tal question  connected  with  that  improvement,  had  no  reference 
whatever  to  the  merits  of  the  project  itself,  but  was  founded  upon 
peculiar  considerations  growing  out  of  the  single  question  pre- 
sented and  the  manner  in  which  it  came  before  the  senate,  but  in 
which  my  judgment  was  not  in  the  least  influenced  by  any  un- 
friendly feeling  to  the  railroad.  On  the  contrary,  I  can  very 
freely  state  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  I  am,  and  ever  have  been, 
the  advocate  ot  the  system  of  internal  improvements  by  means 
of  railroads  and  canals ;  that  I  regard  it  as  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant duties  of  the  government,  as  fast  as  its  rapidly  developing 
resources  will  allow,  to  prosecute  such  a  system  of  improvements 
of  that  description  as  will  enable  all  the  different  sections  of  the 
country  to  enjoy,  as  equally  as  possible,  the  advantages  of  a 
speedy  communication  with  the  great  commercial  metropolis  of 
the  state.  I. can  not  doubt  that  the  increased  wealth  and  ability 
of  the  state,  improved  by  a  revision  of  the  entire  administration 
of  the  canal  revenues,  would  allow  us  to  resume  and  push  to  a 
successful  completion  this  eminently  important  system.  Among 
those  improvements  which  are  most  indispensable  to  the  great 
object  of  securing  to  this  state  the  precious  boon  of  the  trade  of 
the  western  states  I  have  long  believed  one  of  the  most  desirable 
is  a  work  which  would  connect  Lake  Erie  with  the  Hudson  river, 
passing  through  the  southern  tier  of  counties,  and  which  would 
give  to  the  city  of  New  York  the  advantages  of  the  great  western 
trade  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  particularly  at  those  seasons 
when,  without  such  a  work,  that  trade  must  flow  through  differ- 
ent channels  to  a  southern  port.  To  secure  this  trade  was  the 
great  object  of  the  system  of  internal  improvements,  projected 
and  commenced  by  that  distinguished  public  benefactor,  De 
Witt  Clinton.  Experience  has  shown  that  this  object  has  not 
been  entirely  accomplished,  and  I  have  no  belief  that  it  will  be, 
until  the  improvement  mentioned  by  you,  together  with  others 
of  a  similar  character  in  other  sections  of  the  state,  shall  be  com- 
pleted. It  is  certainly  a  consideration  of  much  weight,  that 
the  suggested  railroad  will  bestow  upon  the  southern  counties 
through  which  it  will  pass,  advantages  similar  to  those  enjoyed 
by  other  parts  of  the  state,  where  similar  public  improvements 
have  been  accomplished.  That  it  is  practicable,  I  am  happy  to 
learn,  will  be  satisfactorily  established  by  the  surveys  recently 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.  419 

made  under  the  direction  of  that  experienced  engineer  Judge 
Wright. 

With  these  opinions  in  its  favor,  you  may  be  assured  of  my 
readiness,  either  as  a  private  citizen,  or  in  whatever  public  ca- 
pacity I  may  be  called  to  serve,  to  afford  every  aid  in  my  power, 
not  only  to  the  construction  of  this  work,  but  to  the  completion 
of  that  comprehensive  and  beneficial  system  of  internal  improve- 
ments, commenced  as  I  have  already  mentioned,  and  thus  far 
continued  with  a  success  which  has  astonished  ourselves. 

1  am,  gentlemen,  with  great  respect,  your  fellow-citizen. 


TO   SAMUEL   P.   LYMAN,   ESQ. 

Albany,  March  8,  1839. 

Mr  Dear  Sir:  You  are  about  to  leave  the  city,  and  I  am 
about  to  do  an  unusual  thing — that  is,  to  do  justice  at  some  haz- 
ard of  misconstruction,  and  with  the  risk  of  being  deemed  impru- 
dent to  an  old  friend.  I  say  first,  what  from  the  first  I  have  said, 
and  you  and  the  world  know,  viz.,  that  as  an  advocate  of  a  broad 
system  of  internal  improvements  in  this  state  and  the  Union,  and 
not  from  local  or  partisan  feelings,  I  am  a  friend  of  the  New  York 
and  Erie  railroad,  and  desirous  of  its  early  and  complete  con- 
struction. Having  said  this,  I  am  now  to  add,  as  I  do  without 
qualification,  that  I  have  all  the  while  been  acquainted  with  your 
action  during  the  last  year,  and  especially  during  the  present 
session  of  the  legislature,  in  regard  to  that  work.  And  I  know, 
and  it  is  my  duty  to  say,  at  the  moment  when  you  are  withdraw- 
ing from  your  official  duties,  in  connection  with  it,  under  my 
advice,  in  order  to  secur.e  its  success,  that  your  action  has  been 
in  every  respect  faithful,  honest,  enlightened,  and  efficient.  While 
I  have  on  various  occasions  differed  from  you  in  regard  to  the 
measures  you  advocated,  and  the  manner  of  proceeding  you  rec- 
ommended, it  is  but  just  to  say  that  your  action  (having  regard 
to  your  peculiar  responsibilities)  has  been  uniformly  wise  and 
just,  and  I  add  confidently,  fortunate.  You  are  leaving  the  mat- 
ter at  my  instance,  to  relieve  it  from  popular  prejudices  against 
yourself,  yet  I  know  and  declare  that  those  prejudices  are  unjust  ■ 


420  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

and  the  present  fair  and  certain  prospect  that  a  bill  will  be  passed,, 
either  for  the  construction  of  the  railroad  altogether  as  a  public 
work,  or  by  liberal  and  unprecedented  aid  to  the  company,  has 
been  secured  more  by  your  agenc}?"  than  by  any  other  cause. 
And  I  authorize  you  to  exhibit  this  letter  to  any  discreet  persons 
entitled  to  such  confidence,  as  evidence  that  if  the  friends  of  the 
improvement  do  not  estimate  your  exertions  as  I  have  pronounced 
concerning  them,  they,  in  my  judgment,  do  you  great  injustice. 

I  never  write  letters  of  form  or  compliment.  Words,  when  I 
use  them,  express  my  feelings  and  opinions.  But  I  know  that 
others  sometimes  use  them  otherwise.  I  add,  therefore,  that  this 
letter  is  to  be  regarded  as  sincere,  and  proceeding  from  convic- 
tions, and  that  I  should  deem  myself  most  unjust  and  unfaithful 
if  I  left  the  reality  of  those  convictions  to  be  the  subject  of  doubts. 
To  our  mutual  friend  Mr.  Ruggles  I  have  already  expressed  the 
same  sentiments,  with  such  suggestions  as  it  seemed  to  me  not 
improper  to  make,  relating  to  your  future  engagements. 

I  am,  respectfully  and  sincerely,  your  obedient  servant. 


TO   EDGAR   A.    BARBER,   ESQ. 

Albany,  June  1,  1841. 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  letter  of  the  21st  ultimo,  concerning  the  Og- 
densburg  and  Champlain  railway  bill,  was  duly  received.  I  had 
hoped,  with  you,  for  the  passage  of  the  bill  at  the  recent  session, 
and  I  trust  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to  say  that  no  proper  effort 
on  my  part  was  spared  to  further  that  most  important  obj  ect.  Cher- 
ishing it  as  one  of  the  cardinal  measures  of  the  policy  I  have 
desired  should  be  maintained,  the  failure  of  the  bill  is  scarcely  less 
regretted  by  me  than  by  my  fellow-citizens  immediately  interested 
in  the  great  improvement.  It  has  been  the  fortune  of  the  enter- 
prise to  be  presented  in  a  gloomy  season,  and  when  the  mightiest 
efforts  of  disappointed  faction  have  been  put  forth  to  arrest,  de- 
feat, and  overthrow  the  policy  most  intimately  connected  with 
the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  state.  I  feel  reason  to  be  grate- 
ful that  the  clouds  are  dispersing,  and  that  the  trial  to  which  the 
system  of  internal  improvement  has  been  subjected  has  passed. 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.  421 

It  is  a  subject  of  congratulation  also  to  the  citizens  of  the  nor- 
thern counties  that  their  great  improvement  has  steadily  advanced 
in  public  favor  since  I  first  had  the  honor  to  bring  it  before  the 
representatives  of  the  people,  under  all  the  inauspicious  circum- 
stances it  has  encountered.  Notwithstanding  the  unwearied 
efforts  which  have  been  put  forth  to  produce  alarm  concerning 
the  fiscal  ability  of  the  state,  I  cherish  a  confident  hope  that  within 
the  portion  that  remains  of  the  term  for  which  I  have  been  called 
into  the  councils  of  the  state,  the  necessary  means  will  be  adopted 
to  secure  the  completion  of  the  three  great  lines  of  railroad  be- 
tween the  lakes  and  tide-water  which  I  have  had  the  honor  to 
recommend  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  legislature.  I 
regard  the  progress  already  made  by  the  Ogdensburg  and  Cham- 
plain  railroad  as  affording  abundant  reason  to  expect  that  it  will 
receive  the  favor  of  the  legislature  at  its  next  session. 

With  sincere  respect  and  esteem,  your  obedient  servant. 


TO   GEORGE   BLISS,   ESQ. 

Albany,  June  28,   1841. 

Mr  Dear  Sir  :  I  beg  leave  to  return  to  the  directors  of  the 
Western  Railroad  Company  my  acknowledgments  for  their  po- 
liteness and  kindness  in  tendering  to  me  the  freedom  of  their 
road.  The  occasion  is  a  proper  one  also  for  acknowledging  my 
obligations  to  the  directors  and  to  the  mayor  of  Boston  for  their 
attentions  to  my  family  and  myself  during  our  recent  journey  in 
Massachusetts. 

I  congratulate  the  directors  and  the  country  upon  the  prospect 
of  a  speedy  completion  of  the  Western  railroad.  If  I  had  at  any 
time  entertained  a  doubt  of  the  immeasurable  public  advantage 
to  result  from  this  improvement,  that  doubt  would  have  given 
way  when  I  became  acquainted  with  the  enterprise  and  industry 
of  the  people  of  Massachusetts. 

While,  as  a  citizen  of  New  York,  I  shall  continue  to  urge  upon 
my  fellow-citizens  the  construction  of  a  railroad  from  New  York 
to  this  city,  as  a  measure  necessary  to  the  prosperity  of  this  state, 
I  rejoice  in  the  belief  that  the  enterprise  of  the  citizens  of  Boston 


422  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

will  be  crowned  with  a  rich  reward ;  and  I  am  sure  that  the  peo- 
ple of  this  state  will  find  their  interests  promoted  by  a  direct 
access  to  the  great  seat  of  American  manufactures.  It  is  the 
good  fortune  of  New  York  to  possess  within  her  territory  the 
channel  through  which  the  exchange  of  productions  between  the 
east  and  west  must  pass.  The  great  work  you  are  completing 
will  increase  our  inland  trade,  while  it  will  open  to  the  people 
of  Massachusetts  a  direct  and  easy  route  to  the  new  states.  But 
these  results  are  inconsiderable  in  comparison  with  the  political 
benefits  which  will  result  from  bringing  the  western  states  and 
this  commonwealth  into  an  intimate  connection  with  Massachu- 
setts and  the  eastern  states. 

I  trust,  sir,  the  time  is  near  at  hand  when  the  chain  of  railroads 
which  now  binds  together  the  valley  of  the  Merrimack,  the  Con- 
necticut, the  Housatonic,  the  Hudson,  the  Oswego,  the  Genesee, 
and  the  Niagara,  will  reach  the  Mississippi.  Nor  do  I  believe 
the  day  is  far  distant  when  the  country  lying  on  the  northern 
shores  of  the  great  lakes  will  be  opened  to  the  inland  commerce 
of  the  United  States.  Both  these  events  must  be  taken  into  con- 
sideration in  estimating  the  advantages  Massachusetts  is  to  derive 
from  the  Western  railroad. 

With  much  respect  and  esteem,  your  obedient  servant. 


TO    HON.    JAMES   BOWEN. 

Albany,  November  10,  3.842, 

Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  resolu- 
tions passed  by  the  New  York  and  Erie  Railroad  Company, 
expressing  favorable  opinions  concerning  my  public  action  in 
relation  to  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad ;  which  resolutions 
are  accompanied  by  a  medal,  designed  to  be  preserved  as  a  token 
of  the  sentiments  thus  expressed. 

Notwithstanding  the  adverse  circumstances  which  now  sur- 
round that  enterprise,  I  firmly  retain  the  opinion  that  its  accom- 
plishment can  not  be  prevented,  nor  even  long  delayed  ;  and  that 
when  the  road  shall  have  been  made,  it  will  justly  be  regarded 
as  at  least  the  second  in  usefulness  among  the  works  of  internal 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.  423 

improvement  in  the  United  States.  I  therefore  need  make  no 
elaborate  expression  of  the  grateful  emotions  I  experience  in  re- 
ceiving testimonials  which,  when  the  generous  givers  and  the 
receiver  shall  have  passed  away,  can  not  fail  to  be  regarded  by. 
those  into  whose  hands  the  token  may  fall  as  proving  that  I  was 
not  altogether  unworthy  of  their  remembrance. 

I  shall  hereafter  possess  only  the  ability  of  a  private  citizen  to 
promote  this  and  the  other  physical  improvements  so  necessary 
to  the  security  of  the  state,  and  conducive  to  the  welfare  of  its 
citizens.  But  I  beg  leave  to  assure  the  members  of  the  associa- 
tion of  my  exalted  admiration  of  their  perseverance,  their  patriot- 
ism, and  their  sacrifices ;  that  I  shall  not  fail  to  maintain  the 
obligation  of  the  several  states  of  our  confederacy  to  re-establish 
their  credit  —  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  to  lend 
effective  aid  to  the  efforts  of  the  states  for  that  purpose  —  and  of 
this  state  to  support  that  policy,  and  either  to  assume  the  con- 
struction of  the  New  York  and  Erie  railroad  upon  terms  equal 
and  just  to  the  association,  or  to  render  to  the  association  the  aid 
necessary  to  an  early  accomplishment  of  the  great  enterprise  con- 
fided to  their  care  by  the  legislature. 

I  should  do  violence  to  my  own  feelings,  and  injustice  to  you, 
my  dear  sir,  if  I  omitted  to  make  grateful  acknowledgments  for 
the  very  kind  manner  in  which  you  have  communicated  the  sen- 
timents of  the  association  over  which  you  preside,  and  to  con- 
gratulate you  on  the  enviable  position  you  enjoy.  You  were 
honored  in  receiving  charge  of  the  great  enterprise  while  it  was 
receiving  liberal  support  from  your  fellow-citizens,  and  the  favor 
of  the  state.  But  the  fidelity  and  firmness  you  display  in  a  sea- 
son which  I  trust  will  be  of  short  duration,  when,  owing  to  causes 
foreign  to  the  merit  of  the  work,  that  support  has  in  a  great 
measure  ceased,  and  that  favor  been  withdrawn,  deserves  and 
will  assuredly  secure  a  large  measure  of  public  gratitude. 
I  remain  your  obedient  servant. 


424  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO  THE  PACIFIC  RAILKOAD   CONTENTION 
AT   ST.   LOUIS. 

Florida,  N.  Y.,   October  8,  1849. 

Gentlemen  :  Your  letter  of  the  28th  of  August,  inviting  me  to 
attend  the  national  convention  to  be  held  at  St.  Louis,  to  delib- 
erate on  the  importance  of  communications  across  the  continent 
by  railroad  and  telegraph,  and  tendering  to  me  the  hospitalities 
of  the  city  on  that  interesting  occasion,  has  been  received. 

When  we  contemplate,  for  only  a  moment,  our  expansive  ter- 
ritorials on  the  Pacific  coast,  and  the  almost  magical  develop- 
ments of  moral,  social,  and  political  elements  in  the  colonies 
planted  there,  separated  as  they  are  from  us  by  mountain-barriers, 
desert  wastes,  and  stormy  seas ;  when  we  look  upon  the  full  tide 
of  European  immigration  beating  upon  our  eastern  shores,  and 
consider  the  volume  that  is  ready  to  break  upon  the  Pacific  coast, 
the  ultimate  unity  of  the  races  of  men  reveals  itself  to  us,  and  we 
are  irresistibly  impressed  with  a  conviction  that  this  unity  is  to 
be  perfected  in  our  own  country,  under  our  own  democratic  in- 
stitutions. 

While  we  are  yet  bewildered  in  endeavoring  to  obtain  a  full 
conception  of  the  ultimate  influence  of  railroads  and  magnetic 
telegraphs  upon  civilization  and  empire,  we  see  that  they  are 
indispensable  agencies  in  perfecting  the  integrity  of  the  nation, 
and  in  attaining  its  destiny.  All  previous  enterprises  of  internal 
improvement  have  involved  preliminary  questions  of  practicabil- 
ity and  of  necessity,  or  at  least  of  expediency,  which  perplexed 
the  popular  mind,  and  hindered,  delayed,  or  altogether  defeated, 
the  action  of  the  government.  But  the  connection  of  the  oceans 
is  an  inevitable  and  immediate  consequence  of  progress  already 
made,  which  can  not  be  retarded.  The  banks  of  the  Mississippi, 
so  long  and  until  so  recent  a  period  the  barrier  between  the  Eu- 
ropean powers  —  whose  dominion  on  this  continent  has  passed 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.  425 

away  for  ever — are  a  fitting  place  for  consultation  ;  and  I  should 
deem  it  among  the  most  gratifying  incidents  of  my  life  if  I  could 
control  circumstances  around  me  so  as  to  avail  myself  of  the  in- 
structions which  the  convention  will  afford.  But  this  will  be 
impossible.  I  pray  you  to  accept  my  grateful  acknowledgments 
for  the  respect  implied  by  your  invitation,  and  my  sincere  assu- 
rance that  the  most  disinterested  and  diligent  efforts  shall  be  put 
forth  on  my  part  in  support  of  such  a  system  for  perfecting  the 
proposed  enterprises  as  shall  seem  most  likely  to  gain  the  favor 
of  the  national  legislature. 

I  speak  of  Congress,  because  I  deem  it  right  and  necessary  to 
demand,  not  merely  the  toleration  or  consent  of  that  body,  but 
its  direct  and  effective  action.  Undoubtedly  a  railroad  to  the 
Pacific  ocean  would  ultimately  be  constructed  by  the  enterprise 
of  citizens  and  of  states,  as  other  national  works  of  internal  im- 
provement have  been  built.  But  the  interest  of  this  generation, 
and  even  the  security  of  the  nation,  can  no%t  abide  such  delays. 
The  action  of  our  government  concerning  internal  improvements 
hitherto  has  not  conformed  to  the  plainly-expressed  anticipations 
of  its  founders.  It  was  universally  and  confidently  supposed, 
when  the  constitution  was  adopted,  that  all  works  essential  to 
the  public  defence  and  to  the  improvement  of  internal  commerce 
would  be  constructed  by  the  national  arm  and  with  the  national 
treasury.  But  the  government  has  hitherto  remained,  for  the 
most  part,  inactive  and  inert,  by  reason  of  disputes  about  the 
relative  utility  of  such  enterprises,  and  real  or  affected  apprehen- 
sions of  improvidence  and  demoralization  consequent  on  the  exer- 
cise of  federal  power  in  that  direction.  This  inaction  has  resulted 
in  deep  and  pervading  doubts  about  even  the  constitutional  power 
of  Congress  to  construct  any  works  of  internal  improvement. 
The  first  and  most  important  step  toward  the  fulfilment  of  the 
wishes  of  the  people  is  the  removal  of  these  doubts ;  and  this 
can  be  done  only  by  full  expositions,  in  every  popular  form,  of 
the  indispensable  necessity  and  vast  utility  of  the  enterprises 
which  will  engage  the  attention  of  the  convention.  This  must 
be  done,  or  it  will  be  left  for  states  yet  to  be  organized,  and  even 
yet  to  be  peopled,  to  construct,  link  by  link,  the  chain  which  the 
federal  power  ought  to  forge  at  a  single  blow. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  with  great  respect  and  esteem,  your  humble 
servant. 


426  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


SLAVERY. 


TO  WILLIAM  JAY  AND  GEERIT  SMITH,  ESQS. 

Auburn,   October  22,  1838. 

Gentlemen  :  Your  letter  proposing  to  me  certain  questions  in 
behalf  of  a  numerous  meeting  of  my  fellow-citizens  at  Utica,  lias 
been  received. 

You  must  be  aware,  gentlemen,  that  the  convention  which  has 
designated  me  as  the  representative  of  the  whig  party  in  this 
state,  in  the  approaching  election,  has  done  so  without  any  ref- 
erence to  the  subjects  indicated  in  your  inquiries,  and  that  those 
subjects  enter  not  at  all  into  the  political  creed  of  that  large  body 
of  freemen  whose  candidate  I  have  become.  Persons  selected 
as  the  representatives  of  political  principles  can  have  no  right  to 
compromise  their  constituents,  by  the  expression  of  opinions  on 
other  subjects  than  those  in  reference  to  which  the  selections 
were  made.  Upon  this  ground,  a  candidate  might  perhaps  de- 
cline to  answer  any  inquiries,  other  than  such  as  should  relate  to 
the  political  matters  agitated  among  the  people.  He  might,  with 
even  greater  propriety,  excuse  himself  from  answering  a  body 
of  men  who  do  not  profess  to  form  a  political  party,  and  who  do 
not  declare  that  their  votes  will  be  in  the  least  influenced  by  the 
answer  they  may  receive,  but  who,  on  the  contrary,  in  their 
official  communication  say,  that  their  "  inquiry  is  prompted  by 
no  desire  to  promote  or  defeat  the  success  of  any  particular  can- 
didate, but  is  made  solely  for  the  purpose  of  affording  to  the 
electors  information  important  to  the  faithful  and  intelligent 
exercise  of  the  elective  franchise."  But,  gentlemen,  I  am  dis- 
posed to  treat  the  matter  with  more  enlarged  and  elevated  views. 
I  am  unwilling  that  the  intelligent,  virtuous,  and  patriotic  citi- 


SLAVERY.  427 

zens,  who  have  called  upon  me  to  become  their  candidate,  shall 
be  subjected  to  the  reproach  of  having  selected  a  citizen  who 
either  held  any  opinions  that  he  was  desirous  to  conceal,  or  who 
was  unwilling  to  trust  to  the  intelligence  and  liberality  of  his 
countrymen,  for  the  honest  indulgence  of  sentiments  that  any  of 
them  might  deem  erroneous,  on  subjects  of  great  difficulty,  and 
in  relation  to  which  the  wisest  and  best  men  of  our  country  do 
not  agree. 

I  am  unwilling,  moreover,  to  impair  the  force  of  the  great 
republican  principle  which  recognises  the  right  of  the  constituent 
to  know  the  opinions  of  the  representative,  in  order  that  the 
will  of  the  people  may  be  fully  expressed,  and  which  acknowl- 
edges also  the  duty  of  obeying  that  will  when  ascertained. 

Your  first  inquiry  is :  "  Are  you  in  favor  of  a  law  granting  to 
persons  in  this  state  claimed  as  fugitive  slaves,  a  trial  by  jury?" 

To  me  it  seems  that  the  more  humble  and  degraded  the  indi- 
vidual over  whom  arbitrary  power  is  attempted  to  be  exercised, 
the  stronger  is  his  claim  to  the  protection  of  a  trial  by  jury. 
This  inestimable  institution,  derived  by  us,  with  the  choicest  and 
dearest  principles  of  liberty,  from  the  purest  period  of  England,, 
can  be  neither  too  highly  appreciated  nor  too  widely  extended. 
Its  provisions  are  peculiarly  applicable  to  the  case  of  the  wretched 
being  whose  services  are  claimed  as  the  property  of  another. 
But,  gentlemen,  I  am  not  aware  that  any  further  legislation  is 
necessary  to  secure  this  right  to  the  persons  in  question.  Abun- 
dant provision  already  exists  in  our  laws,  and  in  my  judgment 
its  provisions  are  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  institutions  of 
civil  liberty.  It  is  true  that  the  question  is  now  pending  in  the 
court  for  the  correction  of  errors,  whether  this  provision  conflicts 
with  the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  Should  that  law  be 
sustained,  there  are,  I  think,  very  few  citizens  who  would  desire 
its  repeal,  and  certainly  I  am  not  one  of  them.  If,  however,  the 
statute  shall  be  decided  to  be  unconstitutional,  and  any  other  can 
be  passed  which  will  avoid  that  objection  and  secure  the  rightr 
it  would  find  in  me  a  firm  supporter. 

Your  second  inquiry  is :  "  Are  you  in  favor  of  abolishing  all 
distinctions  in  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  citizens  of  this 
state,  founded  solely  on  complexion  ?" 

This  question  is  very  general,  and  I  am  at  a  loss  to  perceive 
its  application  to  any  other  subject  than  the  provision  of  the  con- 


428  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

etitution  which  requires,  as  a  qualification  for  the  exercise  of  the 
elective  franchise  by  colored  persons,  the  possession  of  a  freehold 
estate  of  the  value  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  a  residence 
of  three  years  in  the  state,  and  the  actual  payment  of  taxes. 

The  property  qualification,  as  a  test  of  the  requisite  intelli- 
gence and  capacity  for  the  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise,  was 
abolished  by  our  new  constitution  in  all  cases  except  that  of 
colored  persons,  as  anti-republican  and  unsound  in  principle. 

I  believe  all  men  may  become  competent  to  the  responsibili- 
ties of  self-government.  I  think,  also,  that  nations  and  races 
may  become  debased  by  ignorance  so  as  to  be  destitute  of  the 
intelligence  and  virtue  requisite  for  the  discharge  of  those 
responsibilities.  The  constitution  seems  to  have  adopted  these 
principles,  by  imposing  a  restriction  on  the  right  of  suffrage  on 
the  part  of  the  colored  population,  instead  of  their  total  exclusion. 

In  this  view,  the  constitutional  restriction  in  question  is  scarcely 
to  be  regarded  as  a  distinction  "  founded  solely  on  complexion," 
but  should  rather  be  considered  a  test  to  discriminate  between 
those  of  that  race  who  possess  the  requisite  intelligence  and 
capacity  to  discharge  the  responsibilities  of  freemen,  and  those 
who  do  not.  Objectionable  as  a  property  qualification  is  for 
such  a  test,  I  am  not  prepared  to  say,  having  in  view  the  actual 
condition  of  that  race,  that  no  test  ought,  to  exist. 

The  constitution  of  this  state  was  but  recently  established.  Its 
distribution  of  the  right  of  suffrage  was  the  act  of  the  people 
themselves,  and  was  adopted  with  what  was  then  believed  a  just 
regard  to  the  security  of  all  classes  of  citizens  and  the  general 
welfare.  Organic  changes  in  society  ought  not  to  be  rashly 
made;  and  such  changes  ought  not,  and  indeed  can  not,  be 
made  here  without  the  decided  and  clearly-expressed  will  of  the 
majority  of  the  people. 

However  "extensive  and  increasing"  may  be  the  interest  felt 
on  this  subject  among  our  fellow- citizens,  it  certainly  can  not  be 
assumed  that  their  views  have  undergone  so  great  a  change,  that 
they  are  prepared  for  this  proposed  alteration  of  the  constitution. 
Under  such  circumstances,  if  my  views  agreed  with  your  own, 
and  if  I  deemed  it  my  duty  to  express  them  on  all  other  occa- 
sions, I  should,  nevertheless,  justly  expose  myself  to  the  charge 
of  temerity,  were  I,  when  standing  as  a  candidate  for  the  office 
of  chief-magistrate,  to  pledge  myself  to  recommend  the  modifi- 


SLAVERY.  42£ 

cation  of  the  constitution  in  this  respect.  And  such  a  pledge 
could  most  certainly  be  inferred  from  a  declaration  of  such 
views,  however  it  might  be  in  language  disclaimed.  It  would 
be  ungracious  as  well  as  unnecessary  to  enter  into  the  argument 
on  this  matter,  since,  in  your  investigation  of  the  subject,  you 
must  have  anticipated  every  suggestion  I  could  make  in  defence 
of  my  views  when  they  differ  from  your  own.  I  dismiss  the 
interrogatory,  therefore,  with  the  simple  negative  I  feel  myself 
constrained  to  give. 

Your  third  question  is :  "  Are  you  in  favor  of  a  repeal  of  the 
law  which  now  authorizes  the  importation  of  slaves  into  this  state,. 
and  their  detention  as  such  during  a  period  of  nine  months?" 

The  provisions  of  our  statute  on  the  subject  of  slavery  are  as 
follows,  viz. :  The  statute  declares  that  all  persons  born  in  this 
state,  whether  white  or  colored,  are  free;  that  all  persons  who 
shall  be  born  in  this  state  after  its  enactment  shall  be  free ;  and 
that  all  persons  who  shall  be  brought  (synonymous  in  your  com- 
munication with  "  imported")  into  this  state  as  slaves,  shall  be 
free  with  two  exceptions.  The  first  exception  provides  that  per- 
sons emigrating  into  this  state,  and  bringing  with  them  any  per- 
son lawfully  held  in  slavery  in  the  state  from  whence  they  emi- 
grated, may  retain  such  persons,  not  as  slaves,  but  as  apprentices, 
until  they  arrive  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  years. 

The  other  exception  is,  that  "any  person  not  being  an  inhab- 
itant of  the  state,  who  shall  be  travelling  to  or  from,  or  passing 
through  the  state,  may  bring  with  him  any  person  lawfully  held 
by  him  in  slavery  in  the  state  from  whence  he  came,  and  may 
take  such  person  with  him  from  this  state :  but  the  person  so 
held  in  slavery  shall  not  reside  or  continue  in  this  state  more 
than  nine  months,  and  if  such  residence  be  continued  beyond 
that  time,  such  person  shall  be  free." 

It  is  this  last  exception  to  which  your  question  refers.  Does 
not  your  inquiry  give  too  broad  a  meaning  to  the  section?  It 
certainly  does  not  confer  upon  any  citizen  of  a  state,  or  of  any 
other  country,  or  any  citizen  of  any  other  state,  except  the  owner 
of  slaves  in  another  state  by  virtue  of  the  laws  thereof,  the  right 
to  bring  slaves  into  this  state,  or  detain  them  here  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, as  such.  I  understand  your  inquiry  therefore  to- 
mean,  whether  I  am  in  favor  of  a  repeal  of  the  law  which  de- 
clares, in  substance,  that  any  person  from  the  southern  or  south- 


430  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

western  states,  who  may  be  travelling  to  or  from,  or  passing  through 
the  state,  may  bring  with  him  and  take  with  him  any  person  law- 
fully held  by  him  in  slavery  in  the  state  from  whence  he  came, 
provided  such  slaves  do  not  remain  here  more  than  nine  months. 

Before  I  proceed  to  answer  the  question,  I  may  say  generally 
that  I  am  opposed  to  every  form  of  slaveholding  in  this  state, 
not  only  by  our  own  citizens,  but  by  all  other  persons,  and  to  any 
recognition  of  such  a  right  in  this  state  in  every  form  except  such 
as  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  clearly  establishes.  That 
I  regard  the  judiciary  as  the  proper  tribunal  to  expound  all  con- 
stitutional questions,  and  that  to  the  constitution  and  such  exposi- 
tions of  it  as  are  made  by  the  courts  of  law,  it  is  with  me  a  prin- 
ciple of  political  action  to  yield  obedience  and  support. 

The  article  of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  which  bears 
upon  the  present  question,  declares  that  no  person  held  to  service 
or  labor  in  one  state  under  the  laws  thereof,  shall  in  consequence 
of  any  law  or  regulation  therein  be  discharged  from  such  service 
or  labor,  but  such  person  shall  be  delivered  upon  claim  of  the 
party  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due. 

I  understand  that  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  this  provision 
of  the  constitution  has  been  decided  by  the  courts  not  to  include 
the  case  of  a  slave  brought  by  his  master  into  the  state  and  esca- 
ping thence. 

But  the  courts  of  law  in  this  state  have  uniformly  given  a  dif- 
ferent construction  to  the  same  article  of  the  constitution,  and 
have  always  decided  that  it  does  embrace  the  case  of  the  slave 
brought  by  his  master  into  this  state  and  escaping  from  him  here. 
Consequently,  under  this  judicial  construction  of  the  constitution, 
and  without  and  in  defiance  of  any  law  or  regulation  of  this  state, 
if  the  slave  escapes  from  his  master  in  this  state,  he  must  be  re- 
stored to  him,  when  claimed,  at  any  time  during  his  masters 
temporary  sojournment  within  the  state,  whether  that  sojourn- 
ment be  six  months,  nine  months,  or  longer.  It  is  not  for  me  to 
say  that  this  decision  is  erroneous,  nor  is  it  for  our  legislature. 
Acting  under  its  authority,  they  passed  the  law  to  which  you 
object,  for  the  purpose  not  of  conferring  new  powers  and  privi- 
leges on  the  slave-owner,  but  to  prevent  his  abuse  of  that  which 
the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  thus  expounded,  secures  to 
him.  The  law,  as  I  understand  it,  therefore,  was  intended  to  fix 
a  period  of  time  as  a  test  of  transient  passage  through  or  tempo- 


SLAVERY.  431 

rary  residence  in  the  state,  within  the  provisions  of  the  constitu- 
tion. The  duration  of  nine  months  is  not  material  in  the  question, 
and  if  it  be  unnecessarily  long,  it  may  and  ought  to  be  abridged. 
But,  if  no  such  law  existed,  the  right  of  the  master  (under  the 
construction  of  the  constitution  before  mentioned)  would  be  in- 
definite, and  the  slave  must  be  surrendered  to  him  in  all  cases  of 
travelling  through,  or  passage  to  or  from,  the  state. 

If  I  have  correctly  apprehended  the  subject,  this  law  is  not  one 
conferring  the  right  upon  any  person  to  import  slaves  into  the 
state  and  hold  them  here  as  such,  but  is  an  attempt  at  restriction 
upon  the  constitutional  right  of  the  master — a  qualification  or  at 
least  a  definition  of  it,  and  is  in  favor  of  the  slave.  Its  repeal, 
therefore,  wTould  have  the  effect  to  put  in  greater  jeopardy  the 
class  of  persons  you  propose  to  benefit  by  it.  While  the  con- 
struction of  the  constitution  adopted  here  is  maintained,  the  law, 
it  wTould  seem,  ought  to  remain  upon  our  statute-books,  not  as  an 
encroachment  upon  the  rights  of  man,  but  a  protection  for  them. 

But,  gentlemen,  being  desirous  to  be  entirely  candid  in  this 
communication,  it  is  proper  I  should  add  that  I  am  not  convinced 
that  it  would  be  either  wise,  expedient,  or  humane,  to  declare  to 
our  fellow-citizens  of  the  southern  and  southwestern  states,  that 
if  they  travel  to  or  from,  or  pass  through,  the  state  of  New  York, 
they  shall  not  bring  with  them  the  attendants  wrhom  custom  or 
education  or  habit  may  have  rendered  necessary  to  them.  I  have 
not  been  able  to  discover  any  good  object  to  be  attained  by  such 
an  act  of  inhospitality.  It  certainly  can  work  no  injury  to  us, 
nor  can  it  be  injurious  to  the  unfortunate  beings  held  in  bondage, 
to  permit  them  once  perhaps  in  their  lives,  and  at  most  on  occa- 
sions few  and  far  between,  to  visit  a  country  where  slavery  is 
unknown.  I  can  even  conceive  of  benefits  to  the  great  cause  of 
human  liberty  from  the  cultivation  of  this  intercourse  with  the 
south. 

I  can  imagine  but  one  ground  of  objection,  which  is  that  it 
may  be  regarded  as  an  implication  that  this  state  sanctions 
slavery.  If  this  objection  were  well  grounded,  I  should  at  once 
condemn  the  law.  But  in  truth  the  law  does  not  imply  any  such 
sanction.  The  same  statute,  which  in  necessary  obedience  to  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  as  expounded,  declares  the  ex- 
ception, condemns  in  the  most  clear  and  definite  terms  all  human 
bondage. 


432  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE 

I  will  not  press  the  considerations  flowing  from  the  nature  of 
our  Union,  and  the  mutual  concessions  on  which  it  was  founded, 
against  the  propriety  of  such  an  exclusion  as  your  question  con- 
templates, apparently  for  the  purpose  only  of  avoiding  an  impli- 
cation not  founded  in  fact,  and  which  the  history  of  our  state  so 
nobly  contradicts.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that  such  an  exclusion 
could  have  no  good  effect  practically,  and  would  accomplish 
nothing  in  the  great  cause  of  human  liberty. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  gentlemen,  your  obedient  servant. 


TO  JOHN  SEARS,  ESQ.,  AND  OTHERS. 

Albany,  February  13,  1841. 

Gentlemen  :  I  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the  copy  of  a  reso- 
lution adopted  by  a  convention  of  my  fellow-citizens  recently 
assembled  at  Palmyra,  concerning  the  requisition  made  upon  me 
by  the  governor  of  Virginia,  for  the  surrender  of  Peter  Johnson, 
Edward  Smith,  and  Isaac  Gansey,  as  fugitives  from  justice, 
charged  with  the  crime  of  stealing  a  slave  in  that  state.  If  the 
principles  I  have  maintained  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  con- 
stitution, their  errors  will  soon  be  discovered  in  cases  having  no 
connection  with  slavery,  and  in  no  wise  affecting  the  peculiar 
institutions  of  the  southern  states.  But  if  on  the  other  hand  they 
are  just  and  true,  they  will  be  found  a  wall  of  protection  around 
the  personal  rights  of  citizens  of  this  state  and  those  of  every 
state  in  the  Union,  and  will  survive  not  only  the  temporary  ex- 
citement which  their  operation  in  the  present  case  calls  forth,  but 
the  actors  in  the  transaction,  and  even  the  very  institution  of 
slavery  itself. 

Be  pleased  to  make  known  to  those  you  represent  my  grateful 
sense  of  their  kind  approval  of  my  official  conduct  in  this  grave 
question,  and  assure  them  of  my  sincere  respect  and  considera- 
tion. 

I  remain,  very  respectfully,  your  fellow-citizen. 


SLAVERY.  433 


TO   JOHN   QUINCY   ADAMS. 

Albany,  April  5,  1841. 

Dear  Sir  :  Our  mutual  friend  Mr.  Gates  has  written  me  that 
you  have  bestowed  some  consideration  upon  the  discussion  which 
has  recently  taken  place  between  the  executive  authorities  of 
Virginia  and  myself.  I  return  you  my  thanks  for  the  kind  per- 
mission to  him  to  communicate  to  me  the  opinion  you  have  ex- 
pressed. As  the  subject  is  one  of  growing  importance  and  likely 
to  excite  much  interest,  I  take  the  liberty  to  send  you  copies  of  all 
the  papers  relating  to  it  which  have  become  public. 

Permit  me  to  express  to  you  my  sincere  acknowledgments  for 
your  high  and  honorable  efforts  in  behalf  of  human  liberty,  in  the 
case  of  the  prisoners  in  the  Amistad. 

That  your  honored  life  may  long  be  spared  is  the  earnest  wish 
of,  dear  sir,  always  most  respectfully,  your  fellow-citizen. 


TO   HOE".   JOHN   QUINCY   ADAMS. 

Albany,  April,  20,   1841. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  can  not  omit  to  thank  you  for  your  kind  and 
excellent  letter.  It  will  be  of  much  use  to  me.  The  subject  of 
my  correspondence  with  the  executive  of  Virginia  is  new  even  in 
this  state,  and  the  subjection  into  which  the  minds  of  many  of 
our  citizens  was  brought  by  the  policy  of  the  late  adminis- 
tration, in  regard  to  any  question  which  might,  in  any  way,  seem 
to  affect  "the  peculiar  institution"  of  the  southern  states,  has 
rendered  them  slow,  to  appreciate  our  own  deep  interest  in  the 
maintenance  of  the  positions  I  have  assumed.     The  influence  of 

Vol.  IH.— 28 


434  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

many  wise  and  good  men  has  been  in  favor  of  the  extraordinary 
demand  of  Virginia.  Although  this  influence  daily  diminishes, 
I  shall  gain  much  strength  from  your  sanction  of  my  decision. 

A  mutual  friend  has  told  me  that  you  are  preparing  a  report 
of  your  argument  in  the  Amistad  case.  May  I  ask  of  you  the 
great  favor  to  send  me  a  copy  of  it,  if  you  can  remember  so 
troublesome  a  request. 

With  the  same  respect  and  veneration  which  nine  years  ago 
conducted  me  to  your  retreat  at  Quincy,  to  obtain  the  honor  of 
your  acquaintance,  I  remain,  dear  sir,  your  obedient  servant. 


TO    HON.    JABEZ   D.    HAMMOND. 

Albany,  April  20,  1841. 

Dear  Sir  :  My  health  has  given  way  many  times  during  this 
winter,  and  it  has  happened  in  consequence  of  these  visitations 
that  my  correspondence  has  not  always  been  within  my  control. 
I  trust  that  you  will  receive  this  as  an  excuse  for  my  delay  in 
acknowledging  your  very  kind  and  excellent  letter  of  the  3d  in- 
stant. 

I  pray  you  now  to  be  assured  that  I  fully  appreciate  the  gen- 
erous impulses  which  dictated  it.  I  am  gratified  with  the  direct 
and  incontrovertible  argument  it  contains  in  support  of  the  posi- 
tion I  have  taken  in  what  is  called  the  New  York  and  Virginia 
controversy. 

It  has  been  a  trial  of  my  fortitude  to  stand  so  much  alone  in 
this  matter,  but  there  are  now  abundant  indications  that  the 
doubts  of  one  who  ought  to  understand  and  support  the  right  are 
wearing  away.  I  congratulate  you  upon  the  release  of  the  pub- 
lic mind  in  this  state  from  the  fetters  which  a  late  adminstration 
fastened  upon  it.  I  thank  God  the  time  has  come  at  last  in  which, 
while  we  acknowledge  we  have  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  sov- 
ereignty of  slave-holding  states,  we  can  assert  also  that  those  states 
shall  not  interfere  with  ours. 

I  will  send  you  a  copy  of  the  late  correspondence,  as  soon  as  it 
shall  come  from  the  press. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  I  may  at  some  time  cause  this  whole 


SLAVERY.  435 

correspondence  to  be  printed.  Shall  I  be  at  liberty  to  incorpo- 
rate your  letter?  I  ask  it  because  the  letter  is,  in  my  judgment, 
calculated  to  do  good,  and  will  do  you  much  honor. 

I  have  received,  to-night,  a  noble  letter  on  the  subject  (ap- 
proving my  course)  from  President  Adams. 

I  remain,  dear  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  friend  and  servant. 


TO  AUSTIN  PRAY  and  THOMAS  PAUL,  TORONTO,  U.  C. 

Albany,  July  13,  1841. 

Gentlemen  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  20th  of  June, 
expressing  your  gratification  at  the  measures  I  have  adopted,  and 
the  principles  I  have  maintained  in  regard  to  that  portion  of  the 
African  race  residing  in  this  state.  I  assure  you  most  sincerely, 
that  no  tribute  of  approbation  could  be  more  acceptable  to  me. 
If  there  be  one  reproach  which  I  should  above  all  others  most 
deprecate,  it  would  be  that  of  having  used  the  high  powers  con- 
fided to  me,  to  check  efforts  put  forth  by  that  people  to  rise 
from  the  debasement  in  which  slavery  has  left  them.  While  I 
do  not  disclaim  sympathy  for  your  brethren,  I  must  confess,  that 
in  desiring  to  promote  their  improvement,  I  am  influenced  chiefly 
by  solicitude  for  the  security  and  prosperity  of  my  country.  It 
is  not  alone  the  degraded  race  that  suffers.  Slavery  has  brought 
a  thousand  evils  which  affect  the  whole  American  community, 
and  will  long  survive  the  cause  that  produced  them.  I  congrat- 
ulate you  upon  the  indications  that  the  time  draws  nigh  when 
slavery  will  be  numbered  among  the  obsolete  crimes  of  the 
human  race.  Your  friend  and  well-wisher. 


436  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO   THOMAS   CLAKKSON,   ESQ.,   LONDON 

Albany,  July  26,  1842. 

Sir:  I  acknowledge  with  much  pleasure,  the  receipt  of  the 
communication  addressed  to  me,  by  the  convention  of  the  friends 
of  the  negro,  assembled  from  various  parts  of  the  world,  at 
London,  on  the  12th  day  of  June  last. 

I  beg  leave  to  assure  you,  sir,  that  I  concur  entirely  with  the 
convention,  and  with  enlightened  and  benevolent  men  in  all 
civilized  countries,  in  regarding  slavery  as  a  great  moral  evil, 
unjust  in  principle,  a  violation  of  inalienable  human  rights, 
inconsistent  with  the  blessed  spirit  of  the  Christian  religion,  and 
injurious  to  the  prosperity  and  happiness  of  every  people  among 
whom  it  exists.  Entertaining  these  views,  I  have  regarded  with 
deep  interest,  and  entire  approbation,  all  the  noble  efforts  which 
have  been  made  in  your  country,  and  in  this,  for  the  abolition  of 
slavery,  and  especially  those  with  which  your  name,  and  that  of 
your  compatriot  Wilberforce,  have  been  associated,  until  those 
names  have  acquired  an  enduring  place  among  those  of  the  most 
distinguished  benefactors  of  mankind. 

You  are  well  aware,  sir,  that  slavery  was  abolished  in  this  state 
many  years  since.  By  the  action  of  our  legislature  every  vestige 
of  slavery  has  ceased  to  exist.  The  improvement  of  the  condition 
of  negroes  remaining  in  this  state  is  enforced  by  considerations 
of  justice  to  their  much-injured  race,  by  a  patriotic  solicitude  for 
the  stability  of  our  invaluable  republican  institutions,  and  by  an 
enlightened  view  of  the  influence  that  their  elevation  would  have 
in  promoting  the  great  object  of  emancipation  throughout* the 
world.  I  have,  therefore,  since  the  functions  of  government  in 
this  state  were  committed  to  me,  endeavored  always  to  do  what 
has  been  in  my  power  to  achieve  this  great  purpose,  and  I  have 
not  the  slightest  hesitation  in  assuring  you,  that  at  no  time,  nor 


SLAVERY.  437 

under  any  circumstances,  shall  I  fail  to  do  whatever  may  be 
within  my  lawful  power,  and  rightful  influence,  calculated,  in  my 
judgment,  to  promote  in  the  most  effectual  manner,  the  great 
and  philanthropic  work  of  universal  emancipation. 

With  the  most  respectful  consideration,  and  with  an  ardent 
desire  that  your  useful  and  honorable  life  may  be  prolonged,  I 
remain,  very  respectfully  and  sincerely,  your  obedient  servant. 


REPLY  TO  THE   COLORED  CITIZENS  OF  NEW  YORK. 

Albany,  January  5,   1843. 

Gentlemen  :  I  have  received  with  profound  sensibility,  the 
resolutions  and  address  tendered  by  you,  in  the  name  of  the 
colored  citizens  of  New  York.  It  is  a  pleasing  surprise^  that  the 
prindpks_andjnotiv_es  which  have  influenced  my  public  conduct, 
although  misapprehended  by  many  of  those  to  whom  I  was 
responsible,  have  been  fully  understood, and  justly  appreciated  by 
a  mass  who  are-exclualed1  UBJujtlv  from  political  suffrage,  and, 
therefore,  are  unable  to  reward  or  punish  a  magistrate. 

I  do  not  trust  myself  to  reply,  at  length,  to  your  eloquent  and 
affecting  address,  but  I  may  say,  without  egotism,  that  I  shall 
cherish  among  the  pleasing  recollections  of  my  public  life,  the 
remembrance  that  I  received  the  thanks  of  those,  whose  protec- 
tion required  a  sacrifice  of  some  personal  advantage,  and  a  con- 
flict with  prejudices  matured  by  age,  and  sustained  by  political 
combinations. 

Believe  me,  gentlemen,  to  be  as  grateful  as  a  generous  and 
ardent  man  should  be  for  the  tribute  I  have  have  received  at  your 
hands ;  and  assure  your  constituents  that  the  cause  of  humanity 
shall  continue  to  have  my  humble  efforts  for  its  advancement. 

I  remain,  most  respectfully,  your  obliged  and  obedient  servant. 


438  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


EEPLY  TO  THE  COLOEED  CITIZENS  OF  ALBANY. 

Auburn,  January  10,  1843. 

Gentlemen:  If  prejudice,  interest,  and  passion,  did  some- 
times counsel  me  that  what  seemed  to  be  the  rights  of  the 
African  race,  might  be  overlooked  without  compromise  of 
principle,  and  even  with  personal  advantage,  yet  I  never  have 
been  able  to  find  a  better  definition  of  equality  than  that  which 
is  contained  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  or  of  justice, 
than  the  form  which  our  religion  adopts.  If,  as  the  former 
asserts,  all  men  are  born  free  and  equal,  institutions  which  deny 
them  equal  political  rights  and  advantages  are  unjust,  and  if  I 
would  do  unto  others  as  I  would  desire  them  to  do  unto  me,  I 
should  not  deny  them  any  right  on  account  of  the  hue  they  wear, 
or  of  the  land  in  which  they  or  their  ancestors  were  born. 

Only  time  can  determine  between  those  who  have  upheld, 
and  those  who  have  opposed  the  measures  to  which  you 
have  adverted.  But  I  feel  encouraged  to  wait  that  decision, 
since,  in  the  moment  when,  if  ever,  reproaches  for  injustice 
should  come,  the  exile  does  not  reproach  me,  the  prisoner  does 
not  exult  in  my  departure,  and  the  disfranchised  and  the  slave 
greet  me  with  their  salutations.  And  if  every  other  hope  of  my 
heart  shall  fail,  the  remembrance  that  I  have  received  the  thanks 
of  those  who  have  just  cause  to  upbraid  the  memory  of  our 
forefathers,  and  to  complain  of  our  cotemporaries,  will  satisfy  me 
that  I  have  not  lived  altogether  in  vain. 

May  that  God,  whose  impartial  love  knows  no  difference 
among  those  to  whom  he  has  imparted  a  portion  of  his  own 
spirit,  and  upon  whom  he  has  impressed  his  own  image,  reward 
you  for  your  kindness  to  me  now,  and  in  times  past,  and  sanction 
and  bless  your  generous  and  noble  efforts  to  regain  all  the  rights 
of  which  you  have  been  deprived. 


SLAVERY.  439 


TO   GEREIT   SMITH,   ESQ. 

Auburn,  November  25,  1844. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  On  my  return  from  Orange  county,  I  find  your 
very  kind  letter  of  the  16th  instant.  I  regret  that  I  missed  an 
interview  with  you  in  Albany. 

You  do  me  no  more  than  justice  in  supposing  that  I  shall  con- 
tinue the  contest,  or  rather  my  exertions  in  the  contest,  for  hu- 
man rights  with  as  much  zeal  as  ever.  But  I  am  confounded  for 
the  moment  by  the  magnitude  and  imminency  of  the  perils  to 
which  the  cause  of  freedom  is  exposed,  by  the  sad  result  of  the 
recent  election.  It  would  be  unavailing  for  you  and  me  to  dis- 
pute about  the  responsibilities  for  that  result.  The  same  wide 
difference  of  opinion,  that  has  hitherto  existed  in  regard  to  our 
respective  courses,  remains.  But  we  have  nevertheless  a  com- 
mon devotion  to  the  common  cause.  All  the  efforts  of  all  sin- 
cere lovers  of  freedom  will  be  necessary  to  overtake  the  trium- 
phant spirit  of  slavery,  and  trammel  up  the  consequences  of  the 
sanction  of  the  conquest  of  Texas  by  the  American  people.  You 
are  committed  to  the  liberty  party's  mode  of  proceeding.  I  find 
the  whig  party  like  what  I  always  loved  to  imagine  it,  firm,  fear- 
less, resolved  in  the  very  hour  of  its  defeat.  I  believe  it  willing 
and  yet  capable  to  take  the  cause  of  freedom  into  its  keeping. 
As  yet  I  see  no  reason,  and  much  less  apparent  reason  now  than 
heretofore,  to  distrust  its  instincts  of  liberty  and  humanity.  Un- 
der these  circumstances  I  shall  cheerfully  abide  its  destinies,  and 
wait  for  the  development  of  circumstances  and  occasions  which 
will  show  in  what  quarter  and  in  what  manner  the  great  war, 
in  which  we  have  lost  so  important  a  battle,  is  to  be  recom- 
menced. 

Believe  me,  always  sincerely,  your  friend  and  obedient  ser- 
vant. 


440  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO  S.  P.  CHASE,  SAMUEL  LEWIS,  AND  OTHEKS. 

Auburn,  May  26,  1845. 

Gentlemen:  Your  letter  of  the  19th  of  April,  inviting  me  to 
a  "  Southern  and  Western  Convention  of  the  Friends  of  Constitu- 
tional Liberty  at  Cincinnati,"  has  been  received.  You  inform 
me  that  the  convention  will  not  be  composed  exclusively  of 
members  of  the  liberty  party,  but  will  be  open  "  to  all  who  are 
resolved  to  use  every  constitutional  and  honorable  means  to 
effect  the  extinction  of  slavery  in  their  respective  states,  and  its 
reduction  to  its  constitutional  limits  in  the  United  States." 

I  am  profoundly  sensible  of  the  honor  thus  conferred  upon  me. 
But  uncontrollable  circumstances  concurring  with  my  own  dis- 
position, oblige  me  to  avoid  the  political  arena  and  devote  myself 
assiduously  to  professional  pursuits.  If  I  could  at  all  attend  a 
convention  so  distant,  I  should  not  stop  to  inquire  of  whom  it 
was  composed.  It  would  be  enough  that  its  design  was  to  pro- 
mote the  abolition  of  slavery,  an  object  whose  importance  is  par- 
amount to  that  of  every  other  which  engages  or  can  engage  the 
consideration  of  the  American  people. 

Permit  me,  with  the  utmost  deference,  to  express  a  hope  that 
the  deliberations  of  the  convention  may  be  conducted  in  a  spirit 
of  wise  and  enlightened  moderation.  I  have  always  sympathized 
with  abolitionists  too  deeply  to  be  one  of  those  who  hindered  or 
embarrassed  them,  by  complaining  of  their  intemperate  zeal  and 
exposing  the  injudiciousness  of  their  measures.  But  the  cause 
of  emancipation  has  now  reached  an  interesting  crisis.  The  sen- 
timent of  justice  to  the  African  race  has  at  length  become  a 
political  element  too  important  to  be  overlooked  or  disregarded 
by  either  of  the  great  political  parties. 

The  expediency  of  practical  emancipation  is  directly  discussed 
in  one  slave  state,  and  thousands  are  prepared  for  it  in  other 


SLAVERY.  Ml 

states  where  the  institution  has  seemed  impregnable.  Its  advo- 
cates fail  to  convince  the  people  that  it  is  a  humane,  or  a  neces- 
sary, or  even  a  harmless  anomaly  in  our  constitution.  Neverthe- 
less popular  action  is  checked  by  alarms  concerning  the  threatened 
•dangers  of  emancipation,  civil  wars,  and  dissolution  of  the  Union. 
We  live  in  an  age  when  the  specific  influences  of  Christianity  are 
widely  diffused,  and  we  shrink  from  prosecuting  even  the  most 
benevolent  designs  if  they  seem  to  involve  the  calamities  of  war. 
If  we  analyze  the  national  passion  of  patriotism,  we  shall  find  it 
to  consist  chiefly  in  veneration  for  the  constitution,  and  devotion 
to  the  union  of  the  states. 

The  seeming  indifference  of  the  people  concerning  the  guilt 
and  danger  of  slavery  has  been  so  irksome  to  the  impetuous  that 
many  who  have  been  esteemed  wise  and  patriotic  citizens;  have 
come  to  treat  of  disunion,  as  if  it  were  preferable  to  further  for- 
bearance, or  were  in  some  way  involved  in  the  success  of  aboli- 
tion. I  trust  that  such  sentiments  will  be  discarded.  Whatever 
hopes  may  be  indulged  by  those  who  permit  themselves  to  spec- 
ulate concerning  secession  or  nullification,  we  have  enjoyed  more 
abounding  national  prosperity,  more  perfect  political  and  social 
equality,  and  more  precious  civil  and  religious  liberty,  by,  through, 
and  with  our  present  constitution,  than  were  ever  before  secured 
by  any  people.  We  can  not  know  what  portion  of  these  bles- 
sings would  be  lost  by  dissolving  the  present  fabric  and  construct- 
ing another  or  others  in  its  place.  Heaven  forbid  that  we  should 
even  contemplate  the  experiment ! 

Prudence  in  regard  to  the  cause  of  emancipation  forbids  the 
indulgence  of  a  thought  of  disunion.  If  it  be  so  confessedly  dif- 
ficult to  awaken  the  national  conscience,  while  the  patriotism  of 
abolitionists  can  not  be  justly  questioned,  it  would  be  ruinous  to 
suffer  so  noble  an  enterprise  to  be  at  all  connected  with  designs 
which,  however  they  may  be  excused  or  palliated,  must  neverthe- 
less be  seditious  and  treasonable. 

I  grant  that  the  annexation  of  Texas,  through  the  failure  of 
concert  among  the  opponents  of  slavery,  vastly  increases  the 
difficulty  of  emancipation.  But  still  I  trust  that  if  that  great 
enterprise  be  conducted  with  discretion,  it  will  advance  faster 
than  the  population  and  political  influence  of  the  new  territory. 
The  slaveholders  have  enlarged  the  domain  of  our  country.  Let 
this  untoward  event  only  excite  us  the  more.     Let  us  rouse  our- 


442  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

selves  to  the  necessary  effort,  and  enlarge  indeed  the  "  area  of 
freedom." 

Men  differ  much  in  temperament  and  susceptibility,  and  are 
so  variously  situated,  that  they  receive  from  the  same  causes 
very  unequal  impressions.  It  is  not  in  human  nature  that  all 
who  desire  the  abolition  of  slavery  should  be  inflamed  with  equal 
zeal ;  and  different  degrees  of  fervor  produce  different  opinions 
concerning  the  measures  proper  to  be  adopted.  Great  caution  is 
necessary,  therefore,  to  preserve  mutual  confidence  and  harmony. 
~No  cause,  however  just,  can  flourish  without  these.  Christian 
Europe  lost  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  which  had  cost  so  many  sacri- 
fices, less  by  the  bravery  of  the  Saracens,  than  by  the  mutual 
controversies  of  the  Crusaders.  The  protestant  reformation  was 
arrested  two  hundred  years  ago,  by  the  distraction  of  the  reform- 
ers, and  not  a  furlong's  breadth  has  since  been  gained  from  the 
papal  hierarchy. 

I  am  far  from  denying  that  any  class  of  abolitionists  has  done 
much  good  for  their  common  cause,  but  I  think  the  whole  result 
has  been  much  diminished  by  the  angry  conflicts  between  them, 
often  on  mere  metaphysical  questions.  I  sincerely  hope  that 
these  conflicts  may  now  cease.  Emancipation  is  now  a  political 
enterprise,  to  be  effected  through  the  consent  and  action  of  the 
American  people.  They  will  lend  no  countenance  or  favor  to 
any  other  than  lawful  and  constitutional  means.  Nor  is  the 
range  of  our  efforts  narrowly  circumscribed  by  the  constitution. 

In  many  of  the  free  states  there  is  a  large  mass  of  citizens  dis- 
franchised on  the  ground  of  color.  They  must  be  invested  with 
the  right  of  suffrage.  Give  them  this  right,  and  their  influence 
will  be  immediately  felt  in  the  national  councils,  and  it  is  need- 
less to  say  will  be  cast  in  favor  of  those  who  uphold  the  cause  of 
human  liberty.  We  must  resist  unceasingly  the  admission  of 
slave  states,  and  urge  and  demand  the  abolition  of  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia.  We  have  secured  the  right  of  petition, 
but  the  federal  government  continues  to  be  swerved  by  the  in- 
fluences of  slavery  as  before.  This  tendency  can  and  must  be 
counteracted ;  and  when  one  independent  Congress  shall  have 
been  elected,  the  internal  slave-trade  will  be  subjected  to  in- 
quiry. Amendments  to  the  constitution  may  be  initiated,  and 
the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  emancipation  will  no  longer  appear 
insurmountable. 


SLAVERY.  443 

But,  gentlemen,  I  fear  I  may  appear  to  dogmatize  when  I  in- 
tended only  to  invoke  concession.  If  I  seem  to  do  so  too  earnest- 
ly, it  is  because  I  feel  so  deeply  interested  in  the  cause  to  which 
your  efforts  are  devoted,  and  because  I  believe  with  Burke,  that 
"  we  ought  to  act  in  political  affairs  with  all  the  moderation  which 
does  not  absolutely  enervate  that  vigor,  and  quench  that  fervency 
of  spirit,  without  which  the  best  wishes  for  the  public  good  must 
evaporate  in  empty  speculation." 

I  am,  gentlemen,  very  respectfully,  your  humble  servant. 


TO  THE  EDITOKS  of  the  NATIONAL  INTELLIGENCER* 

Washington,  March  29,  1849. 

Gentlemen  :  It  has  been  stated  in  some  quarters,  that  "  not- 
withstanding the  Allison  letter,  and  the  pretended  pledges  of 
General  Taylor  to  leave  all  questions  of  legislation  entirely  to 
Congress,  yet  the  first  effort  of  the  new  president  was  to  pass 
Mr.  Walker's  amendment  through,  attached  as  it  was  to  the  ap- 
propriation bill.  The  first  movement  of  the  fast  friend  of  the 
Wilmot  proviso,  after  he  had  arrived  at  our  nation's  capital,  was 
to  give  his  personal  influence  to  a  measure  the  effect  of  which 
was  to  extend  slavery." 

I  do  not  pretend  to  know  the  grounds  or  the  authority  on 
which  the  statement  is  made,  but  I  think  it  due  to  General  Tay- 
lor to  give  to  the  public  the  facts  which  are  within  my  knowledge 
relating  to  the  subject. 

In  the  morning  of  the  3d  of  March  (the  last  day  of  the  late 
session  of  Congress),  General  Taylor,  Mr.  Clayton,  the  present 
secretary  of  state,  and  Mr.  Ewing,  now  secretary  of  the  interior, 
severally  called  my  attention  to  the  necessity  of  having  some 
form  of  civil  government  for  California  established  before  Con- 
gress should  adjourn.  Neither  of  those  gentlemen  indicated  any 
plan  whatever,  or  expressed  any  opinion,  on  the  question  of  the 

*  This  letter  shows  General  Taylor's  action,  and  Mr.  Seward's  course  in  regard  to 
Mr.  Walker's  amendment,  which,  if  it  had  passed,  it  has  been  supposed,  would  have 
extended  slavery  over  all  the  New  Mexican  territories.  The  amendment,  as  will  be 
remembered,  failed,  and  the  whole  subject  went  over  to  the  next  Congress,  when  Cali- 
fornia, after  a  long  struggle,  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a  free  state. — Ed. 


444  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

extension  of  slavery  within  the  territory.  What  General  Taylor 
did  say  on  the  subject  was,  that  he  desired  to  substitute  the  rule 
of  law  and  order  there  for  the  bowie-knife  and  revolvers.  I 
repaired  to  the  capitol  in  company  with  Mr.  Ewing,  and  there  I 
procured  a  copy  of  Mr.  Walker's  amendment,  which  I  had  not 
before  read.  I  immediately  prepared  what  I  contemplated  as  an 
•amendment  of  Mr.  Walker's  amendment,  or  as  a  substitute  for  it. 
Afterward  I  found  Mr.  Webster's  proposed  amendment,  and  I 
discovered  that  it  contained  all  the  provisions  I  had  contemplated, 
very  tersely  expressed.  I  took  Mr.  Webster's  amendment,  and 
having  shown  it  to  Mr.  Ewing,  who  left  the  whole  subject  to  my 
own  judgment,  I  visited  many  members  of  the  house  of  repre- 
sentatives, and  urged  the  adoption  of  it. 

Mr.  Yinton,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  ways  and  means, 
soon  informed  me  that  the  committee  would  report  the  amend- 
ment (Mr.  Webster's),  with  some  slight  modifications,  to  which 
I  did  not  object.  I  spent  the  residue  of  the  day  in  urging  the 
adoption  of  the  amendment  of  the  committee  of  ways  and  means 
upon  the  house.  When  it  had  been  adopted  there,  I  returned  to 
the  senate-chamber,  and  exerted  myself  to  procure  the  assent  of 
the  senate  to  the  amendment,  and  I  insisted  that  no  different  pro- 
vision ought  to  pass.  I  continued  my  efforts,  until  the  senate 
decided  to  disagree  to  the  amendment  of  the  committee  of  ways 
and  means  of  the  house.  It  is  well  known  that  the  whole 
design  of  a  government  for  California  failed  by  reason  of  that 
disagreement. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  humble  servant. 


SL  AVERY.  44& 


TO  THE   MASSACHUSETTS   C  ONVENTIOISL 

Auburn,  April  5,  1851. 

Your  letter  inviting  me  to  attend  a  convention  of  the  people 
of  Massachusetts  opposed  to  the  fugitive  slave  law,  and  to  com- 
municate in  writing  my  opinion  on  that  statute,  if  I  should  be 
unable  to  attend  the  convention,  has  been  received. 

While  offering  the  pressure  of  duties  here,  too  long  deferred, 
as  an  apology  for  non-attendance,  I  pray  you  to  assure  the  com- 
mittee in  whose  behalf  you  act,  of  my  profound  sense  of  their 
courtesy  and  kindness.  It  would  be  an  honor  to  be  invited  to 
address  the  people  of  Massachusetts  on  any  subject ;  but  it  might 
well  satisfy  a  generous  ambition  to  be  called  upon  to  speak  to 
that  great  and  enlightened  commonwealth  on  a  question  of 
human  rights  and  civil  liberty. 

I  confess  that  I  have  earnestly  desired  not  to  mingle  in  the 
popular  discussions  of  the  measures  of  the  last  Congress.  The 
issue  necessarily  involves  the  claims  of  their  advocates  and  ad- 
versaries in  the  public  councils,  to  the  confidence  of  the  country. 
Some  of  those  advocates  have  entered  the  popular  arena,  crimi- 
nating those  from  whom  they  had  differed,  while  others  have 
endeavored,  by  extraordinary  means,  either  to  control  discussion, 
or  to  suppress  it  altogether,  and  thus  they  have  shown  them- 
selves disqualified  by  prejudice  or  interest,  for  practising  that 
impartiality  and  candor  which  the  occasion  demanded. 

I  am  unwilling  even  to  seem  to  imply,  by  reiterating  arguments 
already  before  the  public,  either  any  distrust  of  the  position  of 
those  with  whom  I  stood  in  Congress,  or  any  impatience  for  that 
favorable  popular  verdict  which  I  believe  to  be  near,  and  know 
to  be  ultimately  certain. 

Nevertheless,  there  can  be  no  impropriety  in  my  declaring, 
when  thus  questioned,  the  opinions  which  will  govern  my  vote; 


446  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

upon  any  occasion  when  the  fugitive  slave  law  shall  come  up  for 
review  in  the  national  legislature.  I  think  the  act  signally  un- 
wise, because  it  is  an  attempt  by  a  purely  federative  government 
to  extend  the  economy  of  slave  states  throughout  states  which 
repudiate  slavery  as  a  moral,  social,  and  political  evil.  Any 
despotic  government  would  awaken  sedition  from  its  profoundest 
slumbers  by  such  an  attempt.  The  attempt  by  this  government 
has  aroused  constitutional  resistance,  which  will  not  cease  until 
the  effort  shall  be  relinquished.  He  who  teaches  another  faith 
than  this,  whether  self-deceived  or  not,  misleads.  I  think  also 
that  the  attempt  was  unnecessary;  that  political  ends  —  merely 
political  ends  —  and  not  real  evils,  resulting  from  the  escape  of 
slaves,  constituted  the  prevailing  motives  to  the  enactment. 

I  think,  also,  that  the  details  of  the  measure  are  indefensible ; 
that  the  denial  to  the  alleged  fugitive  of  a  trial  of  his  alleged 
obligation  to  labor,  and  of  his  escape  from  it  by  a  court,  and 
nothing  less  than  a  court  of  justice,  constitutionally  organized, 
and  proceeding  according  to  the  course  of  the  common  law 
within  the  state  where  he  is  claimed,  is  palpably  in  derogation 
of  the  constitution  ;  that  the  rules  of  evidence,  which  the  law 
prescribes,  are  oppressive  of  the  weak  and  defenceless;  and  that 
Christendom  might  be  searched  in  vain  for  a  parallel  to  the  pro- 
visions which  make  escape  from  bondage  a  crime,  by  a  law  re- 
troactive in  its  effect,  and  without  limitations  of  time  to  favor  the 
presumption  of  freedom,  which,  under  rigorous  penalties,  compel 
freemen  to  aid  in  the  capture  of  slaves,  and  which  offer  unmis- 
taken  inducements  to  false  claims  and  false  judgments.  Finally, 
whatever  changes  of  opinions  others  may  have  undergone,  I 
retain  my  earliest  convictions  that  the  constitutional  provision  on 
which  the  law  purports  to  be  founded,  is  merely  a  compact 
betwreen  the  states ;  and  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
have  no  jurisdiction  of  the  subject. 

Nor  is  the  law,  which  is  so  obnoxious  in  itself,  commended  to  my 
favor  by  its  connection  with  what  are  called  the  other  measures 
of  compromise.  Compromise  implies  a  mingling  of  truth  and 
error,  right  and  wrong.  One  of  those  affiliated  measures  denied, 
the  admission  of  New  Mexico,  because  she  had  determined  to 
come  in  as  a  free  state,  and  remanded  her,  with  permission  to 
come  back  in  the  habiliments  of  slavery.  Another  distinctly 
intimated  to  the  Mormons  the  consent  of  Congress  that  they 


SLAVERY.  447 

should,  if  they  could,  plant  a  slave  state  in  the  very  recesses  of 
the  continent.  A  third  abolished  a  public  slave-mart  in  the  city 
of  Washington,  without  abating  either  the  extent  or  duration  of 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  A  fourth  obtained  peace  on 
humiliating  terms  from  one  of  the  youngest  and  feeblest  members 
of  the  confederacy,  in  an  attitude  of  sedition.  While  a  fifth  only 
reluctantly  admitted  California  as  a  free  state,  when  she  refused 
to  contaminate  herself  with  slavery.  Which  one  of  these  measures 
has  superfluous  merit,  to  be  received  in  extenuation  of  the  fugi- 
tive slave  law?  But  we  are  told,  that  bad  as  these  measures  are, 
they  were  the  best  that  could  be  obtained.  On  the  contrary, 
there  were  always  votes  enough  for  the  admission  of  California. 
The  thirty-first  Congress  might  have  admitted  her,  and  have  left 
the  other  questions  to  another  Congress,  which,  instructed  by  the 
people,  might  have  done  better,  and  certainly  could  not  have 
done  worse. 

Nor  do  I  find  the  fugitive  slave'law  growing  in  my  favor  on 
the  ground  of  the  already  falsified  promise  of  an  end  of  the  agita- 
tion of  slavery  in  the  republic ;  an  agitation  which,  whether 
beneficent  or  otherwise,  is  as  inseparable  from  our  political 
organization,  as  the  winds  and  clouds  are  from  the  atmosphere 
that  encircles  the  earth. 

I  have  weighed,  morever,  the  argument  that  some  portion  of 
the  people,  in  some  of  the  states  have  made  the  perpetuity  of  the 
fugitive  slave  law  a  condition  of  new  declarations  of  loyalty  to 
the  Union.  That  loyalty  is  a  duty  resulting  from  the  Constitu- 
tion, and  is  equally  due,  whether  the  measures  of  administration 
are  satisfactory  or  unsatisfactory.  I  regret  that  anything  should 
have  happened  to  encourage  a  belief  that  loyalty  could  be  ac- 
cepted on  conditions,  and  especially  on  the  conditions  of  forbearing 
to  repeal  a  repealable  statute.  But  since  it  is  so,  I  can  only  say 
that  we,  on  whom  the  recent  action  of  the  government  bears,  as  it 
seems  to  us,  so  unjustly,  are  in  the  Union  for  richer  or  poorer,  for 
better  or  worse,  whether  in  a  majority  or  in  a  minority,  whether  in 
power  or  powerless,  without  condition,  reservation,  qualification, 
or  limitation,  for  ever  and  aye;  that  we  are  in  the  Union,  not 
because  we  are  satisfied  with  the  administration,  but  whether 
satisfied  or  not ;  not  at  all  by  means  of  compromises  or  under- 
standings, but  by  virtue  of  the  constitution ;  and  that  all  other 
parties  are  in  the  Union  on  the  same  terms,  for  the  same  tenure, 


448  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

and  by  virtue  of  the  same  obligation ;  and  so  they  will  find  their 
case  to  be,  when  they  offer  to  plead  violations  of  extra  constitu- 
tional conditions  to  justify  secession.  Whatever  is  irrepealable  in 
any  of  the  acts  of  the  late  Congress,  no  one  will  be  mad  enough 
to  attempt  to  repeal.  Whatever  is  repealable  in  those  acts,  and 
whatever  shall  be  repealable  in  future  acts  of  Congress,  whether 
it  shall  favor  freedom  or  slavery,  no  matter  under  what  circum- 
stances, nor  with  what  auspices,  nor  with  what  solemnities  it  may 
have  been  adopted,  must  abide  the  trial  of  experience  of  rea- 
son and  of  truth.  It  is  only  in  this  way  that  the  constitution  can 
be  maintained,  and  the  Union  can  be  saved.  Its  security  consists 
in  the  adaptation  it  has  to  the  physical  and  moral  necessities  of 
the  broad  and  ever-extending  empire  which  it  protects  and 
defends,  and  in  the  facility  with  which,  without  violence,  or 
sudden  change,  errors  of  administration  can  be  corrected,  and 
new  exigencies  can  be  met,  so  that  the  state,  free  or  slaveholding, 
which  may  at  any  time  be  least  favored,  will  be  at  all  times  safer 
under  this  government,  when  worst  administered,  than  it  would 
be  under  any  other,  however  wisely  administered,  or  favorably 
conducted. 

I  think  that  all  this  is  virtually  confessed  now  by  those  who, 
wdiile  they  see  that  their  complicated  schemes  for  that  suppression 
of  free  debate  which  they  thought  essential  to  the  safety  of  the 
Union,  have  failed :  nevertheless,  admit  that  the  Union  is  no 
longer  in  danger,  and  therefore  I  think  that  we  may,  at  least, 
congratulate  ourselves  on  the  discovery,  that  not  only  are  extra 
constitutional  compromises  unnecessary,  but  that  the  Union  has 
strength  and  stability  enough  to  endure,  notwithstanding  that 
such  compromises,  under  the  influence  of  an  unwise  legislative 
distrust,  are  sometimes  unnecessarily  and  unavailingly  made. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  humble  servant. 


THE  M'LEOD  CASE. 


TO  PETER  B.   POETEE. 

Albany,  March" SI,  1841. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  return  you  my  acknowledgments  for  your  spirited 
and  interesting  letter,  on  the  subject  of  the  disturbed  relations 
between  this  country  and  Great  Britain.  That  subject  being,  as 
I  have  reason  to  suppose,  under  consideration  by  the  federal 
government,  and  my  views  having  been  fully  communicated 
thereon,  it  would  seem  to  be  improper  for  me  to  write  upon  the 
matter  at  present. 

Permit  me  to  assure  you,  however,  that  while  obliged  to  differ 
from  you  in  regard  to  some  of  the  questions  discussed,  I  am  quite 
sure  that  no  war  will  grow  out  of  the  affair.  While  I  may  be 
wrong  in  other  views  not  noticed  by  you,  yet  I  must  be  allowed 
to  say  that,  in  regard  to  the  one  matter  in  which  you  censure  me 
with  a  freedom  that  commands  even  new  respect  on  my  part,  you 
will,  at  a  proper  time,  find  that  your  opinion  is  premature  if  not 
erroneous. 

Accept  the  assurances  of  the  high  respect  and  esteem  with 
which  I  remain,  your  obedient  servant. 

Vol.  III.— 29 


450  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO   HON.   THOMAS   EWING. 

Albany,  May  17,  1841. 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  letter  was  duly  received,  and  I  return  you 
my  acknowledgments  for  it.  I  think  I  can  assure  you  that  reso- 
lutions instructing  our  senators  upon  all  the  leading  whig  meas- 
ures will  pass  our  legislature  before  its  adjournment.  If  in  any 
way  I  can  contribute  to  their  passage  in  Congress,  I  shall  be 
ready  to  do  so.  It  can  not  be  too  well  understood  that  the  con- 
tinued ascendency  of  the  whig  party  in  this  state  can  not  be 
looked  for  if  those  measures  fail  to  receive  the  favorable  action 
of  Congress.  Decision  and  energy  in  restoring  the  prosperity 
of  the  country  are  expected  from  the  whig  party. 

When  Mr.  Crittenden  was  here,  he  was  met  with  frankness, 
and  unreserved  communications  were  made  to  him  concerning 
our  views  on  the  M'Leod  and  Caroline  questions.  We  expected 
similar  confidence  to  be  reposed  in  us,  more  especially  as  the 
questions  have,a  local  bearing  and  local  interest  affecting  this 
state.  ISTo  communications  on  that  subject  have  been  received, 
except  the  president's  reply  to  a  letter  of  mine  concerning  an  in- 
cident connected  with  the  proceedings  in  the  supreme  court  of 
this  state. 

It  is  not  doubted  that  the  derangement  of  business  resulting 
from  the  death  of  General  Harrison  caused  the  interruption  of 
communication  on  that  interesting  subject.  We  have  been  left, 
however,  to  conjecture,  and  learn  from  apparently  semi-authentic 
givings-out  in  the  newspapers,  the  course  of  the  general  govern- 
ment upon  a  question  of  exciting  interest.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, we  may  have  erred  through  want  of  information,  but  we 
have  felt  it  our  duty  to  advise  against  a  proceeding  that  seems  to 
have  been  thought  wise  at  Washington. 

I  should  have  been  wanting  in  the  frankness  which  I  desire 
always  to  manifest  if  I  had  not  made  known  to  the  president  that 
the  surrender  or  discharge  of  M'Leod,  with  the  seeming  agency 


THE  M'LEOD  CASE.  451 , 

or  consent  of  the  general  government,  would  have  a  most  un- 
happy effect ;  while  by  suffering  him  to  be  tried  by  the  court  in 
the  ordinary  form,  we  have  a  course  perfectly  safe.  Here  we 
must  and  shall  act  according  to  these  views,  at  least  until  better 
informed. 

I  fear,  dear  sir,  I  shall  be  thought  one  of  those  who  take  pleas- 
ure in  fault-finding.  I  assure  you,  however,  that  if  I  am  consti- 
tutionally disposed  that  way,  I  have  had  experience  enough  of 
being  found  fault  with  to  save  me  from  that  category. 

Wishing  you  all  success  in  your  very  arduous  and  responsible 
duties,  I  remain,  very  respectfully,  your  friend  and  obedient  ser- 
vant. 


TO   LOYELL   G.    MICKLES,   ESQ. 

Westfield,  Chautauque  County,  August  23,  1841. 

My  Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  of  the  16th  instant  found  me  at 
Buffalo.  I  am  spending  two  or  three  days  here,  and  shall  with- 
out much  delay  return  to  Albany. 

The  veto-message  is  very  unfortunate  in  its  effects  in  this  re- 
gion, if  it  be  unfortunate  to  alienate  one's  friends,  and  excite  a 
triumphant  tone  on  the  part  of  one's  enemies. 

We  look  with  much  solicitude  for  what  is  to  follow.  The  pas- 
sage of  the  bankrupt  bill  gladdens  many  hearts.  It  has  never 
been  my  purpose  to  complain  of  Mr.  Webster  or  the  administra- 
tion at  Washington.  I  have  been  content  to  do  my  duty,  and 
leave  consequences  to  take  care  of  themselves.  It  surprises  me, 
however,  that  Mr.  W.  should  aver  that  I  had  in  all  cases  been 
treated  fairly. 

When  the  new  administration  came  in,- it  found  a  manifesto 
written  by  me,  and  addressed  to  Mr.  Forsyth,  in  which  I  assumed 
the  ground  taken  by  him,  and  justified  it,  thus  making  it  the 
ground  upon  which  this  state  was  to  insist.  Mr.  Webster  changed 
this  ground,  and  sent  Mr.  Fillmore  and  the  attorney-general  of 
the  United  States  to  consult  with  me  on  the  subject.  I  commu- 
nicated to  both  these  gentlemen  my  dissent  from  Mr.  Webster's 
opinions,  which  I  was  informed  were  yet  open  for  review,  and 
were  not  communicated  to  Mr.  Fox.     I  corresponded  upon  the 


452  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

whole  matter  freely  with  Mr.  Crittenden,  Mr.  Fillmore,  and  Gen- 
eral Scott,  all  of  whom  accorded  with  me  in  opinion,  and  agreed 
so  to  report  to  Mr.  Webster.  They  further  agreed  that,  if  Mr. 
Webster  should  coincide,  they  would  file  with  him  my  written 
answer  to  his  communication,  and  if  he  or  the  president  dissented, 
I  should  be  informed  before  any  communication  was  made  to  the 
British  minister,  to  the  end  that  a  further  consultation  might  be 
had  between  the  government  at  Washington  and  myself.  For 
this  frankness  on  my  side  I  have  had  no  return.  Mr.  Webster, 
without  making  any  further  communication  to  me,  committed 
himself  to  Mr.  Fox,  repudiating  the  ground  solemnly  assumed  by 
this  state.  He  left  me  to  learn  from  the  president's  message  to 
Congress  what  had  been  his  decision  upon  a  point  in  which  he 
had  opened  a  consultation  with  me.  That  decision  was  commu- 
nicated to  the  British  government  several  weeks  before  it  was 
made  known  to  the  state  of  New  York.  This  may  have  been 
frank,  generous,  and  wise,  but  I  have  not  so  regarded  it. 

This  breach  of  courtesy  and  confidence  was  followed  by  com- 
mitting the  office  of  district-attorney  of  the  United  States  to  a 
man  actually  known  to  Mr.  Webster  to  be  counsel  for  M'Leod 
after  I  had  expressly  notified  Mr.  Webster,  through  Mr.  Critten- 
den, of  that  incongruous  relation.  When  I  protested  against  the 
district-attorney's  acting  as  counsel  for  M'Leod,  I  was  answered 
by  ribaldry,  although  the  course  I  adopted  was  necessary,  not 
only  to  protect  the  dignity  and  honor  of  the  government  of  the 
United  States,  but  also  the  rights  of  this  state.  I  am  informed 
in  a  most  authentic  manner  that  my  name  has  been  associated  in 
Mr.  Webster's  society  with  personal  and  dishonorable  motives 
in  regard  to  the  M'Leod  affair. 

These  are  some  of  the  circumstances  which  might  have  occurred 
to  you  when  Mr.  Webster  desired  you  to  specify  when  I  had  been 
treated  with  unfrankness. 

But  they  are  unimportant.  ISTone  regrets  more  than  I  do  any 
accident  that  disturbs  the  relations  between  the  political  power 
of  this  state  and  the  federal  government.  I  ask  no  consideration 
for  personal  grief,  as  I  have  never  sought  any  personal  consider- 
ation of  the  president  or  his  cabinet.  I  am  content  to  pay  with 
disregard  all  injuries  done  to  me,  and  I  shall  most  assuredly  ap- 
prove of  all  the  measures  of  the  federal  administration  that  shall 
entitle  themselves  to  the  approbation  of  anybody. 

Yours,  very  respectfully. 


THE  M'LEOD  CASE.  453 


TO   KEY.   ELIPHALET  NOTT,   D.  D. 

Albany,  September  1*7,   1841. 

My  Dear  Sir:  It  seems,  from  my  old  tutor's  letter,  that  I 
have  again  fallen  under  discipline.  It  is  fortunate  for  me  that 
he  has  not  now  the  power  he  had  of  old.  If  he  had,  I  should 
most  surely  be  "  suspended"  instead  of  M'Leod,  unless  you  were, 
as  before,  the  appellate  tribunal.  If  you  were,  I  trust  I  might 
hope  for  executive  clemency  similar  to  that  which  saved  me  from 
expulsion  from  the  barren  sand-hills  that  have  since  been  con- 
verted into  fertility  and  embellished  under  your  care,  at  Sche- 
nectady. 

I  thank  you  for  vindicating  me  so  well  and  justly.  I  have 
often  had  occasion  to  mark  how  much  more  justly  men  reason  in 
books  than  in  action.  Dr.  Wayland's  book  on  "Human  Bespon- 
sibility"  is  an  invaluable  and  in  the  main  a  most  true  book.  I 
think  he  would  be  unwilling  to  say  in  his  next  edition  that  it 
was  my  business  to  usurp  judicial  power  and  acquit  without  trial 
a  party  accused  of  crime,  because  even  the  British  government 
might  launch  her  thunders  against  this  nation  if  I  refused  to  do 
so.  It  will,  however,  be  sufficient  to  remove  the  doctor's  appre- 
hensions, to  say  that  his  information  is  altogether  incorrect.  "  The 
borderers  are"  not  "  determined,  right  or  wrong,  to  hang  M'Leod." 
—  uThe  governor  is  not  with  them"  or  with  anybody  else  that  has 
such  designs,  but,  as  the  world  will  know  in  the  sequel,  is  as  care- 
ful of  the  personal  security  of  Alexander  M'Leod  as  the  honor 
and. dignity  of  the  state  of  New  York  requires  its  executive  au- 
thority to  be.  And  instead  of  political  capital  being  sought  by 
me,  all  the  thousand  idle  rumors  that  alarm  our  old  friend  are 
the  consequence  of  busy  men  in  both  countries  who  are  trying 
to  make  capital  by  showing  how  they  can  prevent  a  war  which 
there  is  no  real  ground  to  fear. 

Always,  my  dear  sir,  your  obedient  servant  and  docile  pupil. 


454  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


TO   HON.   JOHN   QUINCY  ADAMS. 

Albany,  September  25,  1841. 

Mr  Dear  Sir  :  I  thank  you  very  sincerely  for  your  kind  re- 
membrance, manifested  by  sending  me  a  copy  of  your  remarks 
on  the  M'Leod  resolution.  If  I  can  not  subscribe  to  all  your 
positions,  I  can  acknowledge  that  I  am  gratified  with  the  spirit 
which  pervades  the  speech.  You  are  entitled  to  the  thanks  of 
the  country  for  inculcating  the  importance  of  deliberation  and 
patriotism  in  acting  upon  the  delicate  questions  which  have  oc- 
curred in  our  foreign  relationst.  I  am  especially  grateful  to  you 
for  reading  some  of  our  orators  a  lesson  upon  the  flippancy  with 
which  they  magnify  New  York  as  the  empire  state.  Such  ex- 
pressions are  in  bad  taste,  and  tend  to  excite  jealousies  affecting 
the  just  influence  of  the  state. 

With  renewed  assurances  of  very  high  respect,  I  am  your  obe- 
dient servant. 


TO   HON.   JOHN   QUINCY   ADAMS. 

Albany,  November  6,  1841. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  share  with  a  thousand  others  a  deep  regret 
on  account  of  your  inability  to  accept  the  invitation  of  our  Young 
Men's  Association.  But  I  am  not  surprised.  1  can  not,  indeed, 
conceive  how  you  are  able  ever  to  turn  aside  from  sterner  duties 
to  literary  pursuits. 

The  mails  have  borne  to  you  the  news  of  a  disastrous  overthrow 
of  the  whig  party  in  this  state.  I  confess  my  fears  that  the  evil 
is  epidemic,  and  that  even  Massachusetts  may  exhibit  a  similar 
result  next  week.    There  will  be  much  speculation,  and  as  usual 


THE  M'LEOD  CASK  455 

very  little  wisdom  in  it,  concerning  the  causes  of  this  popular 
change.  History  is  not  very  accurate  in  her  judgments  upon 
"  causas  rerum"  but  cotemporaneous  commentary  is  never  just. 
I  should  refer  the  causes  to  the  constitution  of  parties  and  of 
men.  The  country  was  alarmed  and  suffering.  It  called  upon 
us  for  relief  and  repose.  The  call  has  been  answered,  the  relief 
given,  the  repose  is  enjoyed.  Nevertheless,  there  is  no  cause  of 
despondency.  The  country  demands  the  existence  of  parties, 
and  these  parties  must  alternate  in  the  public  councils.  If  I  were 
to  choose  again  with  which  I  would  connect  myself,  I  should  say 
that  party  invoked  when  danger  and  suffering  came,  rather  than 
that  which  holds  fast  on  power  until  a  despairing  people  casts 
it  off. 

I  can  not  omit  an  acknowledgment  of  your  wisdom  and  saga- 
city in  your  conclusions  in  your  speech  as  to  what  would  be  the 
consequences  of  a  war  upon  the  conviction  and  execution  of 
Alexander  M'Leod.  But,  my  dear  sir,  there  is  a  part  of  the  his- 
tory of  that  affair  unwritten,  and  that  part  would  show  that  while 
there  was  an  entire  certainty  that  M'Leod  would  not  be  convicted, 
and  an  equal  certainty  that  there  would  be  no  war  unless  he  wTas 
executed,  yet  there  was  an  absence  of  all  prudence  and  caution  in 
the  eagerness  of  the  federal  government  to  procure  his  release 
by  direct  interference  with  the  proceedings  of  the  courts  of  this 
state,  and  in  an  extraordinary  and  unusual  manner ;  and  all  this 
after  assurances  in  which  the  government  might  have  confided, 
that,  in  any  and  every  emergency,  the  state  of  New  York  might 
be  relied  upon  to  act  with  justice,  magnanimity,  and  high  regard 
to  the  national  honor  and  harmony. 

I  am,  my  dear  sir,  very  much  gratified  by  the  kind  considera- 
tion you  express  concerning  my  public  actions  in  the  difficult 
place  assigned  me.  If  I  were  to  define  the  ruling  motive  of  my 
political  conduct  in  and  out  of  place,  it  would  be  that  of  solici- 
tude to  avoid  doing  or  saying,  under  the  pressure  of  the  time, 
anything  which  in  all  time  to  come  would  require  vindication. 
Such,  you  will  permit  me  to  say,  has  always  appeared  to  me  to 
be  the  moral  of  your  distinguished  life.  It  will  be  an  enduring 
consolation  to  know  that  I  have  in  any  degree  secured  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  one  whose  fame  seems  to  me  the  most  enviable 
achievement  of  the  age  in  which  I  live.  I  early  determined  not 
to  be  a  candidate  for  a  third  election  to  my  present  place.     Such 


456  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

a  course  was  necessary  to  vindicate  myself  from  jealousies  that 
hindered  my  usefulness.  A  common  misfortune  will  now  lend  a 
healing  influence.  As  for  the  future,  I  await  its  developments 
without  concern,  conscious  that  if  my  services  are  needed,  they 
will  be  demanded  —  and  if  not  needed,  that  it  would  be  neither 
patriotic  nor  conducive  to  my  own  happiness  to  be  in  public  life. 
Excuse  the  egotism  into  which  words  of  kindness  from  one  so 
much  revered  have  betrayed  me,  and  believe  me  your  obedient 
servant. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


HOLLAND    LAND    COMPANY. 

Auburn,    October  15,  1838. 

To  the  Citizens  of  Chautauqtje  County: 

Misrepresentation  of  facts  and  injurious  influences,  which  con- 
cern only  the  political  principles  and  conduct  of  candidates  for 
popular  suffrage,  may  generally  be  left  to  the  correction  of  the 
press.  But  misrepresentations  and  inferences  which  tend  to 
affect  the  social  or  business  relations  existing  between  them  and 
their  fellow-citizens,  may  sometimes  demand  personal  notice. 

During  the  last  two  months  many  statements  have  been  pub- 
lished calculated  to  excite  apprehensions  among  you  concerning 
your  business  relations  with  the  Chautauque  land-office. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  question  the  justice  or  magnanimity 
of  this  mode  of  attack,  or  to  inquire  why  those  who  have  been 
so  suddenly  overcome  by  solicitude  on  behalf  of  "  the  hardy  and 
honest  settlers  of  the  west"  have  been  so  long,  as  it  would  now 
seem,  criminally  indifferent  to  your  welfare  ;  or  whether  their  kind 
concern  for  you  will  continue  after  the  election  which  now  ap- 
proaches shall  have  passed. 

Knowing  from  your  intelligence  and  past  liberality  that  your 
confidence  was  not  to  be  easily  shaken,  I  have  waited  before  ma- 
king this  expose,  until  those  engaged  in  these  efforts  should  have 
submitted  to  the  public  all  the  accusations  they  might  deem  it  to 
their  advantage  to  allege  against  me.  And  although  to  many 
of  you  these  accusations  will  now  come  for  the  first  time,  I  shall 
not  hesitate  to  submit  them  in  all  their  enormity,  and  in  the  lan- 
guage in  which  they  have  been  promulgated. 


458  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

It  was  insinuated  some  two  weeks  since,  by  an  anonymous  cor- 
respondent of  the  Maysville  Sentinel,  that  — 

"  The  bonds  and  mortgages  of  the  settlers  of  Chautauque  coun- 
ty are  now  in  Wall  street,  E"ew  York ;"  that  "  some  trust  company 
has  a  deed  of  all  the  lands  of  the  settlers ;"  that  "  through  the 
agency  of  Nicholas  Biddle  and  others,  William  H.  Seward  has 
raised  money  in  Europe  at  an  interest  of  five  per  cent.,  while  he 
demands  seven  per  cent,  from  you ;"  and  that  "  he  and  his  asso- 
ciates pay  interest  annually,  and  extort  interest  from  you  semi- 
annually" 

These  anonymous  communications  were  copied  into  the  Albany 
Argus,  and  received  the  sanction  of  that  journal. 

The  Albany  Argus,  of  October  3,  says:  "It  is  alleged  that 
Mr.  Seward,  as  agent  of  a  few  whig  speculators,  has  sold  to  a 
foreign  corporation  mortgages  which  cover  the  farms  and  fire- 
sides of  thousands  of  hardy  and  honest  settlers  of  the  west;  that 
he  has,  by  this  operation,  put  their  prosperity,  quiet,  and  happi- 
ness, in  some  measure,  at  the  disposal  of  a  soulless  corporation, 
wThich  will  have  no  sympathy  with  them." 

The  Rochester  Daily  Advertiser,  still  more  alarmed  for  your 
security,  charges  that  "  at  the  time  Seward  obtained  the  mort- 
gages, he  promised  the  settlers  (and  it  was  considered  a  part  of 
the  stipulation  between  him  and  them)  that  he  would  retain  the 
mortgages  in  his  own  hands  ;  so  that  if  they  were  not  able  to  take 
them  up  at  the  expiration  of  the  time  for  which  they  were  given, 
Seward  could  renew  them,  and  thereby  prevent  the  ruin  and  dis- 
tress among  the  honest  settlers,  which  would  be  the  inevitable 
consequence  of  a  foreclosure.  Instead,  however,  of  doing  as  he 
agreed,  he  immediately  sold  the  mortgages  to  a  foreign  corpora- 
tion. Corporations  have  no  souls,  and  of  course  the  corporation 
to  which  Seward  sold  the  mortgages,  will  demand  payment  of  the 
settlers  the  moment  the  mortgages  expire.  If  the  settlers  by  any 
misfortune  are  not  able  to  raise  the  amount  of  money  necessary 
to  lift  the  mortgages,  they  will  be  foreclosed,  and  the  farms  sold 
for  half  what  they  are  worth,  and  William  H.  Seward,  being  a 
heartless  speculator  by  trade,  and  wealthy  withal,  will  doubt- 
less be  the  purchaser,  and  thus  rob  the  poor  settlers  of  millions 
of  their  hard  earnings." 

It  will  surprise  you,  doubtless,  that  these  confident  statements 


INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENTS.  459 

are  altogether  inconsistent  with  your  own  knowledge  of  your 
own  affairs. 

In  November,  1835,  "Wilhelm  Willink,  Walrave  Yan  Henke- 
lone,  Jan  Yan  Eeghen,  Cornells  Isaac  Yandervliet,  and  others, 
living  in  Amsterdam,  in  Holland,  made  an  arrangement  to  sell  to 
Trumbull  Cary  and  George  W.  Lay,  of  Batavia,  in  this  state, 
all  their  remaining  estate,  personal  and  real,  in  Chautauque 
county.  This  estate  consisted,  as  you  well  know,  in  wild  lands, 
reverted  lands,  lands  held  under  valid  contracts,  and  a  few  bonds 
and  mortgages  upon  lands  sold  and  conveyed. 

The  purchase-money  upon  the  sale  was  payable  as  follows: 
$50,000  in  hand,  and  the  residue  in  four  equal  instalments  of  six, 
twelve,  eighteen,  and  twenty-four  months.  For  the  security  of 
the  Holland  Company,  it  was  stipulated  that  they  should  retain 
the  legal  title  of  the  property,  receive  all  the  moneys  which 
should  be  collected,  and  take  in  their  own  names  and  retain  all 
securities  by  bonds,  mortgages,  and  contracts,  which  should  be 
taken  on  the  sale  of  the  lands,  and  liquidation  of  debts.  But  the 
local  agent  of  the  Holland  Company  was,  as  far  as  should  be  con- 
sistent with  its  security,  governed  by  the  direction  of  the  new 
(equitable)  proprietors. 

In  May,  1836,  application  was  made  to  me  to  assume  the 
agency  of  the  estate.  Its  condition  at  that  time  you  well  recol- 
lect. The  land-office  had  been  demolished  in  a  popular  commo- 
tion. The  books,  maps,  records,  and  most  of  the  bonds,  mortgages, 
and  contracts,  had  been  burned.  The  business  of  the  estate  was 
altogether  suspended.  Universal  distrust  prevailed  concerning 
the  title  of  the  Holland  Company,  as  well  as  the  terms  and  con- 
ditions which  would  be  required  by  the  proprietors  for  a  settle- 
ment of  the  great  mass  of  contracts,  and  the  country  suffered  those 
ruinous  consequences  which  inevitably  follow  when  the  title  of 
its  landholders  is  felt  to  be  in  jeopardy.  The  Holland  Company 
having,  about  the  same  time,  with  a  view  to  withdraw  its  inter- 
ests from  the  country,  made  similar  agreements  of  sale  for  other 
parts  of  their  tract,  similar  difficulties  extended  throughout  the 
counties  of  Erie*  Genesee,  and  Cattaraugus.  Such  was  the  pop- 
ular excitement,  that  a  crowd  of  seven  hundred  persons  made  a 
descent  upon  the  Holland  Company's  office  at  Batavia ;  and 
when  I  repaired  to  that  place  to  determine  whether  I  would 
accept  the  agency  proposed,  I  found  the  citizens  of  Batavia  or 


460  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

ganizeJ  in  a  military  force,  and  a  corps  of  men  armed,  as  well  as 
the  citizens,  from  the  state  arsenal,  occupying  the  land-office,  and 
two  block-houses  erected  for  its  defence. 

Of  the  causes  of  these  difficulties,  as  I  had  no  connection  with 
them,  it  is  not  for  me  to  speak.  It  was  on  that  occasion  that  I 
received  at  Batavia  the  proceedings  of  your  convention,  held  at 
Mayville,  in  June,  1836,  in  which  you  resolved  that  the  proprie- 
tors be  invited  to  open  an  office  in  your  county,  and  pledged 
yourselves  that  the  settlers  would  cheerfully  pay  the  principal 
and  interest  accrued  upon  their  contracts,  but  would  submit  to 
no  extortionate  demands  bj  way  of  what  was  called  the  Genesee 
tariff,  compound  interest,  or  otherwise.  Accustomed  always  to 
confide  in  the  intelligence  and  justice  of  the  people,  I  Avas  deter- 
mined by  this  expression  to  accept  the  trust  proposed.  Com- 
pelled by  ill  health  to  relinquish  my  profession,  it  seemed  to  me 
that  I  might,  without  wrong  or  injury  to  you,  contribute  to  re- 
store peace,  harmony,  and  prosperity  in,  that  nourishing  region 
of  the  state,  where  so  much  unhappy  agitation  prevailed;  and 
although  I  may  have  erred,  this  seemed  to  me  not  an  unworthy 
•object  of  ambition,  nor  an  ungrateful  return  of  the  generous  con- 
fidence its  people  had,  on  a  former  occasion,  bestowed  upon  me. 
ISTor  did  it  appear  to  me  morally  wrong  to  receive  from  the  pur- 
chasers an  adequate  compensation  for  my  services.  The  compen- 
sation tendered,  as  an  equivalent  for  the  not  unprofitable  profes- 
sional pursuits  which  I  abandoned,  was  invested  in  the  purchase. 

The  Holland  Company  reposed  in  me  the  extreme  confidence 
of  constituting  me  their  agent,  although  I  was  a  purchaser  under 
them,  and  it  is  due  to  them  and  to  the  proprietors  to  say,  that 
without  even  the  previous  formality  of  an  agreement  in  writing, 
•or  other  instrument  than  a  general  letter  of  attorney,  I  went 
among  you  to  undertake  the  agency  you  desired  should  be 
•established. 

It  was  known  to  me  that  the  Holland  Company  insisted  upon 
its  payments,  and  that  these  could  only  be  made  by  raising  a 
loan  in  Europe  or  elsewhere,  to  meet  their  demands  sooner  than 
they  could  be  collected  from  you,  without  intolerable  oppressions. 
I  therefore  stipulated  with  the  American  Trust  Company,  before 
commencing  my  agency,  that  as  soon  as  the  liquidation  of  the 
debts  by  bonds  and  mortgages  could  be  effected,  and  the  mone- 
tary affairs  of  the  country  would  permit,  they  should  advance  me 


HOLLAND  LAND  COMPANY.  461 

their  bonds  for  the  amount.  I  secured,  also,  an  understanding 
with  the  Holland  Company,  that  they  would  favor  the  proprietors- 
and  settlers,  until  I  could  accomplish  this  preliminary  settlement 
and  security. 

Thus  prepared,  I  opened  an  office,  and  invited  the  settlers  ta 
liquidate  their  debts,  and  to  quiet  all  alarm,  as  well  about  the 
title  of  their  lands,  as  the  terms  and  conditions  of  their  credit,  by 
taking  deeds,  and  executing  bonds  aad  mortgages  for  the  pur- 
chase-money. In  less  than  eighteen  months  four  thousand 
persons  whom  I  found  occupying  lands  chiefly  under  expired 
and  legally-forfeited  contracts  of  sale,  and  excited  and  embar- 
rassed alike  by  apprehensions  about  the  uncertainty  of  ever 
obtaining  titles,  and  anticipated  exaction  upon  their  contracts, 
became  freeholders,  upon  the  terms,  at  their  own  option,  either 
of  payment  of  their  purchase-money,  or  payment  of  a  convenient 
portion  thereof,  and  a  credit  of  five  years  for  the  residue. 

When  the  occupant  could  not  pay  an  advance,  and  his  im- 
provements were  insufficient  to  secure  his  debt,  his  contract,  no 
matter  how  long  expired,  was  renewed  without  any  payment. 
It  was  always,  as  you  well  know,  a  principle  of  my  agency,  that 
no  man  could  lose  his  land  by  forfeiture  if  he  would  but  agree  to- 
pay  for  it  in  five  years.  There  was  none  so  poor  that  he  could 
not  secure  his  "  farm  and  his  fireside."  I  think,  too,  you  will 
recollect  that  to  the  sick  and  infirm,  I  invariably  sent  the  papers 
for  securing  their  farms ;  to  the  indigent  the' money  to  bear  their 
expenses  to  the  land-office  ;  and,  since  I  am  arraigned  as  a  "  soul- 
less speculator,"  I  may  add,  that  to  the  widow,  I  always  made  a 
deduction  from  the  debt  of  her  deceased  husband.  To  the  com- 
mon schools  I  gave  lands  gratuitously  for  their  school-houses. 
From  the  time  I  first  went  among  you  to  this  period,  *I  have 
never  refused  any  indulgence  of  credit,  and  postponement  that 
was  asked  at  my  hands.  When  I  found  a  few  persons  (as  there 
must  necessarily  be  some)  who  were  very  obstinate  in  refusing 
terms  generally  esteemed  liberal,  I  appealed  to  them  first  through 
the  public  newspapers,  then  by  letters  through  the  postofficer 
and  finally  by  a  message  sent  directly  to  their  houses.  When 
these  efforts  failed  to  arrest  their  attention,  and  in  a  few  cases 
legal  proceedings  or  forfeitures  were  necessary,  I  uniformly  con- 
veyed the  lands  upon  the  same  terms  as  if  the  occupants  had 


462  GENERAL  CORRESPONDED^. 

earlier   complied   with    the    terms   which   their  fellow-citizens 
deemed  so  reasonable  and  liberal. 

Thus  contentment  was  universally  diffused  among  you,  when 
the  pressure  of  1837  fell  upon  you,  and  me,  and  the  whole  coun- 
try. Foreseeing  many  cases  of  embarrassment  in  making  pay- 
ments on  your  bonds  and  mortgages  in  that  season  of  scarceness 
of  money,  I  immediately  issued  a  notice  that  the  first  payment  of 
principal  would  be  dispensed  with  if  the  interest  should  be  paid. 
Having  then  obtained  a  definite  proposition  from  the  American 
Trust  Company,  that  the  advance  to  the  proprietors  should  be 
upon  a  credit  of  ten  years,  with  semi-annual  interest,  I  imme- 
diately announced  to  you  the  welcome  and  unexpected  proposi- 
tion to  extend  your  bonds  and  mortgages  for  the  same  period 
upon  the  same  terms.  This  proposition  has  been  generally  ac- 
cepted, and  it  is  yet  open  to  all. 

On  the  11th  of  July,  1838,  after  two  years'  continued  notice 
that  the  title  of  the  Holland  Company  would  pass  from  them  to 
the  proprietors  or  their  trustees ;  the  improved  condition  of  the 
estate,  and  the  returning  prosperity  of  the  country,  enabled  me 
to  conclude  my  arrangement  witli  the  American  Trust  Company. 
That  institution  advanced  to  me  its  bonds  for  the  amount  owed  by 
you  to  the  proprietors,  and  by  the  proprietors  to  the  Holland 
Company ;  and  I  paid  them  over  to  John  Jacob  Vanderkemp, 
agent  of  the  Holland  Company,  at  a  sacrifice  to  my  associates 
and  myself,  in  discharge  of  their  whole  demand.  Desirous  to 
secure  you  against  all  possible  inconvenience  from  this  arrange- 
ment, it  was  agreed  that  the  estate  should  remain  as  before,  under 
my  agency ;  and  the  title  of  the  lands,  bonds,  mortgages,  and 
contracts,  was  vested  by  a  deed  in  myself  with  two  others,  as 
trustees,  to  continue  the  settlement  of  the  estate  for  the  benefit 
of  the  proprietors  and  the  security  of  the  American  Trust  Com- 
pany. This  deed  was  immediately  placed  on  r,ecord  in  Chau- 
tauque  county.  The  agreement  between  the  parties  stipulated 
that  my  agency  in  person,  or  by  my  own  appointment,  shall  con- 
tinue three  years  ;  and  that  payments  made  by  you  in  Chautauque 
county,  should  be  credited  as  soon  as  paid  there.  The  bonds, 
mortgages,  and  contracts,  remain  under  this  arrangement  in  the 
Chautauque  land-office,  whence  they  have  never  been  removed. 

In  this  transaction  the  bank  of  the  United  States  has  had  this 
agency.     The  general  agent  of  the  Holland  Company  has  always 


HOLLAND  LAND  COMPANY.  463 

kept  his  accounts  and  deposites  with  that  institution,  and  his 
remittances  were  made  through  it.  The  payments  from  the 
Chautauque  office,  like  those  of  all  the  other  offices  on  that  tract, 
passed  through  the  same  institution.  It  received  the  bonds  of 
the  American  Trust  Company,  at  the  discount  stipulated  by  me, 
and  paid  for  them  by  a  certificate  of  deposite  to  Mr.  Yanderkemp, 
payable  at  six  months. 

From  this  explanation,  it  appears  that  your  bonds  and  mort- 
gages are  not  in  Wall  streets  nor  in  the  bank  of  the  United 
States,  but  where  you  have  always  found  them — in  the  Chau- 
tauque land  office : 

That  no  trust  company,  foreign  or  domestic,  has  a  deed  of  your 
lands,  but  that  the  title  of  the  lands  of  the  estate  and  your 
securities  are  vested  in  myself,  and  my  associate  trustees,  citizens 
of  this  state,  instead  of  Wilhelm  Willink,  Walrave  Yan  Iienke- 
lone,  and  others  in  Europe : 

That  neither  through  the  agency  of  Nicholas  Biddle  nor  other- 
wise have  I  borrowed  money  in  Europe  or  elsewhere,  at  five  per 
cent.,  and  loaned  it  to  you  at  seven  per  cent. ;  but  that,  instead 
of  demanding  from  you  immediate  payment  of  your  indebtedness 
to  the  Holland  Company,  I  have  borrowed  the  money  upon  your 
credit  and  that  of  the  proprietors,  and  for  your  benefit  and  ours, 
upon  a  term  of  ten  years,  at  seven  per  cent.,  of  which  you  have 
the  full  benefit : 

That  the  proprietors  do  not  exact  of  you  semi-annual  interest, 
while  they  pay  interest  annually  j  but  that  while  they  pay  inter- 
est semi-annually,  you  pay  annually  or  semi-annually  at  your 
own  option : 

That  your  "  farms  and  firesides"  have  not  been  put  in  jeopardy 
by  me  ;  but  in  just  so  much  as  a  deed  subject  to  a  bond  and  mort- 
gage, with  ten  years'  credit,  is  a  more  safe  tenure  than  an  expired 
and  forfeited  contract  of  sale,  they  have  been  secured  to  you : 

And  that  you  have  not  been  delivered  over  to  a  "  soulless 
corporation,"  but  that  your  affairs  have  been  arranged  so  as  to 
secure  you  against  any  possible  extortion  or  oppression  in  any 
quarter ;  and  your  bonds  and  mortgages  are  more  certainly  ac- 
cessible to  you  for  payment  than  before  the  arrangement  was 
made. 

I  have  only  to  add,  what  you  well  recollect  that,  in  all  the  set- 
tlement of  this  estate  no  cent,  of  advance  upon  your  farms,  as 


464  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

of  compound  interest,  or  of  costs  upon  your  debts,  nas  gone  into 
my  hands  or  those  of  any  other  proprietor ;  that  no  man  has  ever 
lost  an  acre  of  land  which  he  desired  or  asked  to  retain,  with  or 
without  money ;  no  bond,  mortgage,  or  contract,  has  been  prose- 
cuted for  arrear  of  principal,  or  for  less  than  two  years'  interest ; 
no  proceedings  of  foreclosure  have  ever  been  instituted  when  the 
occupant  would  pay  a  sum  equal  to  one  year's  interest ;  •  and 
every  forfeiture  has  been  relinquished  upon  an  agreement  to  pay 
the  principal  and  interest  due. 

To  the  people  of  Chautauque  county,  of  all  political  parties^ 
this  statement  is  due,  for  the  generous  confidence  they  have  re- 
posed in  me,  and  the  hospitality  they  have  extended  to  me.  It 
is  required,  moreover,  by  a  due  regard  for  their  welfare,  since 
their  prosperity  must  be  seriously  affected  by  any  discontents 
about  their  titles  and  security.  It  is  due  to  the  harmony  and 
contentment  of  their  "  firesides."  And,  if  it  needs  other  apology, 
it  will  be  found  in  the  duty  I  owe  to  others  ;  for,  however  willing 
I  may  be  to  leave  my  own  conduct  to  the  test  of  time  and  cando*\ 
I  can  not  suffer  their  interests  to  be  put  in  jeopardy. 


ST.   NICHOLAS   SOCIETY. 

Auburn,  December  3,  1838. 

To  Robert  H.  Pruyn  : 

Dear  Sir  :  I  have  to  regret  that  it  will  be  altogether  inconve- 
nient for  me  to  accept  the  invitation  with  which  I  have  been 
honored  by  the  managers  of  the  St.  Nicholas  Society  of  Albany.. 

The  assiduity,  the  love  of  peace,  of  order,  of  justice  and  equal- 
ity, and  the  devotion  to  religion,  of  the  Dutch  colonists  of  tin's 
state,  were  invaluable  elements  in  forming  the  character  and 
manners  of  a  republican  people.  I  should  enjoy  the  greatest 
pleasure  in  doing  homage  to  their  worth. 

The  history  of  the  Netherlands  is  full  of  instruction  to  man- 
kind. Holland  has  been  the  rival  of  the  greatest  states  in  arts 
and  arms.  She  was  fortunate  in  the  proud  distinction  she  at- 
tained, and  more  fortunate  in  her  failure  to  obtain  complete 
superiority.     If  France  has  excelled  her  in  science,  she  once 


IRISH  TESTIMONIAL.  465 

abjured  religion.  If  Italy  has  borne  away  the  palm  of  the  fine 
arts,  she  has  banished  all  the  domestic  virtues ;  and  England  has 
achieved  the  crown  of  national  glory,  with  the  loss  of  the  social 
equality  of  her  people. 

Permit  me  to  offer  you,  as  a  sentiment  for  your  celebration,, 
what  seems  to  me  to  be  the  moral  of  the  history  of  the  Nether- 
lands :  — 

National  happiness  and  prosperity!  They  must  be  secured, 
not  by  ambition  for  what  is  great,  but  by  the  pursuit  of  what 

is  USEFUL. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant. 


IEISH  TESTIMONIAL. 


Albany,  March  14,  1839: 

To  William  James  Macneven,  .and  Others: 

Gentlemen:  I  have  just  received  a  likeness  of  Washington, 
which  I  doubt  not  is  as  faithful  to  the  great  original  as  I  am  sure 
it  is  creditable  to  the  arts. 

Your  letter  of  the  13th  February  last  informs  me  that  this  por- 
trait is  the  gift  of  Irishmen  and  the  sons  of  Irishmen  ;  and  that  it 
is  their  request  that  it  may  be  placed  in  the  executive  chamber. 
I  accept  it  with  great  pleasure,  and  shall  assign  it  the  place 
prescribed.  I  am  unable  to  express  to  you,  gentlemen,  how 
deeply  I  am  affected  by  this  mark  of  kindness  and  respect  on  the 
part  of  so  many  citizens,  all  of  whom  enjoy  deserved  estimation 
and  respect  in  their  adopted  country,  and  among  whom  I  recog- 
nise two  honored  and  aged  survivors  of  those  brave  united  Irish- 
men who  made  this  state  their  refuge,  after  having  periled  their 
lives  in  1797,  in  a  glorious  effort  for  the  deliverance  of  their 
native  land.  I  owe  it  to  myself  to  say,  that  the  sentiments  which 
have  elicited  it, .  have  not  been  recently  adopted,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  have  been  long  entertained  and  always  expressed  on 
suitable  occasions.  If  I  have  correctly  studied  our  social  con- 
dition, I  think  I  may  assume  that  the  United  States  both  need 
and  invite  emigration  from  Europe.     I  say  we  need  it,  because^ 

Yol.  in.— 30 


466  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

notwithstanding  the  astonishing  increase  of  emigration,  labor  l? 
constantly  in  demand ;  and  I  say  we  invite  it,  because  our  laws 
permit  it,  and  all  the  commercial  relations  of  the  country 
afford  to  emigrants  facilities  and  encouragement.  If  I  am  not 
altogether  ignorant  of  the  beautiful  country  you  have  left,  the 
Irish  are  in  many  respects  a  subjugated  and  provincial  people, 
Property  is  most  unequally  distributed,  and  the  laws  of  the  land 
tend  effectually  to  preserve  that  inequality.  Labor  is  denied 
its  fair  equivalent;  the  liberty  allowed  is  rather  held  by  suffer- 
ance than  conceded  by  the  government  as  the  inherent  right  of 
the  people.  Education  is  but  imperfectly  diffused,  and  all  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  institutions  are  upheld  by  power,  and  not 
by  the  voluntary  consent  of  the  governed.  America,  then,  will 
continue,  and  ought  to  continue,  to  be  the  asylum  of  Irishmen, 
and  the  home  of  the  sons  of  Irishmen,  so  long  as  Ireland  is 
oppressed,  and  America  is  free,  prosperous,  and  happy.  I  enter- 
tain no  fears  of  the  consequences  of  this  accession  to  our  num- 
bers. Composed  as  our  population  is,  of  emigrants  from  all  the 
nations  of  Western  Europe  and  their  descendants,  I  have  yet  to 
learn  that  the  elements  of  Irish  character  are  more  unsuitable 
than  those  of  any  other  to  the  perfection  and  success  of  republi- 
can government.  No  people  have  exhibited  more  generous  and 
lofty  devotion  to  liberty  than  they  in  the  persons  of  their  Emmett, 
Fitzgerald,  and  Macneven.  In  statesmanship  and  eloquence, 
Burke  and  Grattan,  Curran,  and  another  Emmett  —  ours  also  by 
adoption — have  seldom  been  surpassed.  In  untiring  labors  for 
political  reform,  O'Connell  is  the  remarkable  man  of  the  age. 
The  thousands  of  Irishmen  engaged  in  our  public  works,  and  in 
domestic  occupations,  are  living  illustrations  of  the  fidelity,  cheer- 
fulness, and  patience,  with  which  that  people  endure  the  ills  of 
life  and  discharge  its  most  laborious  employments.  As  our  fore- 
fathers have  done  before  us,  so  would  I  freely  admit  the  people 
of  all  countries,  and  thus  increase  the  moral  and  physical  strength 
of  our  new  and  growing  country.  I  would  provide  as  they  did 
for  the  security  of  republican  institutions,  and  the  ascendency  of 
republican  principles  —  not  by  imposing  new  prohibitions  or 
restraints  upon  any  class  of  citizens,  but  by  establishing  institu- 
tions for  universal  education.  I  would  plant  free  schools  in  the 
city  accessible  to  the  children  of  the  most  humble  ;  and  I  would 
open  their  doors  by  the  side  of  our  railroads  and  canals.     This 


ST.  ANDREW'S  SOCIETY.  467 

is  an  adequate,  and  will  prove  to  be  the  only,  safeguard  of 
liberty. 

I  can  not  close  this  letter,  gentlemen,  without  expressing  the 
hope  that  the  efforts  of  your  countrymen  at  home  may  be  prose- 
ecuted  with  perseverance  and  crowned  with  success,  until  the 
people  of  Ireland  shall  enjoy  equal  laws  enacted  by  their  own 
representatives,  and  administered  by  their  own  judges,  free  and 
equal  toleration  of  religious  faith  and  worship,  and  a  restoration 
of  the  only  safeguard  of  popular  rights,  an  Irish  parliament. 
I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  fellow-citizen. 


ST.   ANDREW'S   SOCIETY,  ALBANY. 

Albany,  March  29,  1839. 

To  the  Committee,  &c. : 

Gentlemen:  Your  note  of  the  27t»h,  inviting  me  to  attend  the 
anniversary  supper  of  the  St.  Andrew's  Society,  has  been  received. 
It  is  with  sincere  regret  that  I  find  myself  compelled,  by  the 
pressure  of  public  business,  to  decline  this  very  gratifying  invita- 
tion. I  owe  a  debt  for  Scottish  hospitality,  which  I  should  be 
most  happy  to  acknowledge  at  your  festival. 

I  honor  your  countrymen,  alike  for  the  enterprise  which  leads 
them  to  seek  the  advantages  of  fortune  in  other  lands,  and  for 
that  veneration  for  their  native  country,  to  cherish  which  is  one 
of  the  objects  of  your  association.  While  I  hope  and  desire  to 
see  our  country  continue  to  be  an  asylum  for  emigrants  from 
Europe,  I  would  not  complain  that  foreigners  retain  their  attach- 
ments to  their  native  countries.  Forgetfulness  of  their  native 
land  would  afford  but  questionable  evidence  of  devotion  to  that 
which  has  adopted  them. 

With  grateful  acknowledgments,  gentlemen,  for  the  honor  con- 
ferred by  your  invitation,  and  cordial  wishes  for  the  prosperity 
and  happiness  of  my  fellow-citizens  composing  the  St.  Andrew's 
Society, 

I  remain,  your  obedient  servant. 


468  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


THE  ADOPTED  CITIZENS  OF  PHILADELPHIA. 

Albany,  April  24,  1839. 

To  Stephen  Edward  Kice,  Esq.: 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  kind  letter  of  the  20th  inst.  has  been  received. 
I  have  no  language  to  express  the  feelings  which  have  been 
called  forth  by  the  demonstrations  of  kindness  toward  me,  made 
by  adopted  citizens  in  Philadelphia.  It  seems  to  me  that  there 
is  enough  of  national  interest,  of  national  ambition,  and  of  na- 
tional pride,  in  this  country,  to  enable  us  to  banish  all  sectional 
feelings  and  all  hereditary  prejudices;  and  enough  of  philan- 
thropy involved  in  the  success  of  our  form  of  government,  to 
rally  all  our  fellow-citizens,  whatever  may  be  their  birth  or  lin- 
eage, around  our  democratic  institutions. 

Those  institutions  ought  to  be  regarded  not  merely  as  designed 
to  secure  the  "  largest  liberty  to  the  greatest  number  of  our  citi- 
zens," but  as  the  means  of  extending  throughout  the  world  the 
knowledge  of  the  inalienable  right  of  man  to  self-government, 
and  of  the  means  by  which  that  inestimable  right  may  be  estab- 
lished and  secured.  I  feel  that  I  can  not  err  in  inculcating  phi- 
lanthropy even  broader  than  patriotism,  and  a  love  of  liberty  as 
comprehensive  as  human  society.  With  grateful  acknowledg- 
ments of  the  kindness  expressed  in  your  letter, 

I  remain,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 


EXTRADITION  OF  FUGITIVES  FROM  JUSTICE.  469 


EXTRADITION  OF  FUGITIVES  FROM  JUSTICE. 

Albany,  May  20,  1839. 

To  Henry  W.  Rogers,  Esq.,  District  Attorney  of  Erie  Co.  : 

Dear  Sir  :  I  have  received  your  communication  of  the  16th 
instant,  requesting  me  to  make  a  requisition  upon  his  excellency 
Sir  George  Arthur,  lieutenant-governor  of  the  province  of  Upper 
Canada,  for  the  delivery  of  Hugh  Tracy,  to  the  end  that  he  may 
be  brought  to  this  state  to  be  tried  for  a  felony  committed  within 
this  state. 

The  law  of  nations  recognises  the  mutual  rights  of  states  to 
demand  the  surrender  of  fugitives  from  justice.  The  regulation 
of  these,  however,  is  a  proper  subject  for  treaties,  and  the  refusal 
of  a  state  to  comply  with  such  a  requisition  in  a  reasonable  case 
is  just  cause  for  war.  The  right  to  demand  and  the  obligation 
to  surrender  are  reciprocal.  I  am  satisfied  that  the  authority 
necessary  to  the  exercise  of  this  right  rests  with  the  general  gov- 
ernment, and  not  with  the  government  of  the  states.  The  consti- 
tution devolves  upon  the  general  government  the  care  of  foreign 
relations.  That  government  has  the  sole  power  to  make  treaties 
with  foreign  states,  and  the  right  to  declare  war  and  conclude 
peace.  It  thus  possesses  the  power  to  establish  regulations  for 
the  exercise  of  this  important  right,  and  to  enforce  compliance 
with  its  requisitions  when  unreasonably  refused  by  other  states, 
while  the  state  governments  have  no  power  to  establish  general 
regulations,  and  no  means  to  enforce  their  requisitions. 

Application  was  made  to  me,  in  a  case  similar  to  that  now  pre- 
sented, for  a  requisition  upon  the  lieutenant-governor  of  Upper 
Canada,  for  the  delivery  of  a  person  charged  with  a  felony  com- 
mitted in  this  state.  I  considered  it  my  duty  to  refer  the  appli- 
cant to  the  general  government.  The  answer  of  the  secretary  of 
state  was  in  substance,  that  inasmuch  as  Congress  had  not  passed 


470  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

any  law  on  the  subject,  and  there  was  no  provision  by  treaty  in 
relation  to  it,  the  general  government  had  declined  to  act  upon 
such  applications.  The  view  of  the  subject  taken  by  the  general 
government,  has  served  only  to  convince  me  that  the  ground  I 
assumed  was  correct.  If  the  right  could  be  exercised  by  the 
general  government,  provided  its  exercise  should  be  regulated 
by  law  of  Congress  or  by  treaty,  the  jurisdiction  belongs  to  that 
government,  and  not  to  the  states ;  and  if  the  general  govern- 
ment could  not  exercise  it  without  the  previous  passage  of  a  law 
of  Congress  or  the  intervention  of  a  treaty,  the  state  governments, 
even  if  admitted  to  divide  the  responsibility  with  the  general 
government,  could  not  exercise  the  power  without  a  similar  law 
or  the  intervention  of  a  treaty. 

I  can  imagine  no  circumstance  which  would  more  seriously 
embarrass  the  general  government  in  its  conduct  of  the  foreign 
relations  of  the  country,  and  more  certainly  tend  to  bring  the 
public  peace  into  jeopardy,  than  the  discordant  action  of  the 
several  states  in  the  exercise  of  this  power.  I  have  observed 
that  the  governor  of  Vermont  has  taken  a  different  view  of 
the  subject  from  that  here  presented,  and  that,  having  issued 
his  warrant  for  the  delivery  of  a  fugitive  upon  the  requisition 
of  the  governor  of  Upper  Canada,  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  has 
been  issued  by  a  judge  of  that  state,  and  that  the  constitutional 
power  of  the  executive  is  now  undergoing  discussion  there.  Un- 
willing in  any  instance  to  assume  doubtful  powers,  and  espe- 
cially in  cases  so  important  to  the  security  of  our  citizens  and  to 
the  harmony  of  our  foreign  relations,  I  have  concluded  that  it  is 
inexpedient  to  deliver  citizens  of  this  state  upon  the  demands  of 
governments  of  foreign  states,  until  the  constitutional  power  of 
the  executive  department  of  the  state  government  is  more  clearly 
defined  and  established.  Having  arrived  at  this  conclusion,  it 
follows  that  I  can  not  demand  from  other  states  the  surrender  of 
fugitives  from  this  state. 

While  the  view  I  have  presented  assumes  that  the  constitu- 
tional power  and  responsibility  relating  to  this  subject  rest  with 
the  general  government,  I  apprehend,  from  a  passage  in  your 
communication,  that  you  are  in  error  in  supposing  that  there  is 
any  provision,  by  a  statute  of  this  state,  authorizing  the  governor 
to  make  requisitions  upon  the  governments  of  foreign  countries 


DE  WITT  CLINTON.  471 

for  the  delivery  of  persons  who  have  committed  crimes  in  this 
state. 

I  am  fully  sensible  of  the  inconvenience  resulting  from  the 
want  of  suitable  regulations  for  the  exercise  of  this  important 
national  power ;  and  I  shall  deem  it  my  duty,  in  a  respectful 
manner,  to  bring  the  subject  to  the  consideration  of  the  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States. 

I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 


DE   WITT   CLINTON. 

Albany,  July  3,   1839. 

To  Edward  C.  Deiavan,  Esq.,  London: 

Dear  Sir:  I  had  the  pleasure  to  receive,  yesterday,  your 
letter  of  the  17th  of  May,  together  with  a  letter  from  George  W. 
Greene,  Esq.,  addressed  to  you  from  Paris.  You  will  have 
already  learned  with  sorrow,  that  the  time  has  not  yet  arrived, 
when  the  legislature  of  New  York  will  be  ready  to  do  full  honor 
to  her  most  gifted  son  and  greatest  benefactor.  The  bill  provi- 
ding for  the  erection  of  a  monument  to  De  Witt  Clinton  did  not 
pass.  For  the  honor  of  the  state,  I  regret  the  failure,  although 
I  have  everything  to  console  me  in  the  belief,  that  my  recom- 
mendation of  the  measure  has  only,  by  a  year  or  two,  anticipated 
the  gratitude  of  my  fellow-citizens. 

There  is  great  force  in  the  eloquent  argument  of  your  friend, 
in  favor  of  the  employment  of  an  American  artist.  I  had  always 
thought  the  employment  of  European  artists,  to  produce  statues 
of  our  countrymen,  unfortunate  in  regard  to  the  execution  of  the 
design,  and  derogatory  from  the  national  character;  but  I  did 
not  before  understand  the  process  of  induction  by  which  my 
conclusions  were  obtained. 

I  return  you  my  thanks  for  the  kindness  of  personal  feeling 
expressed  toward  myself  in  your  letter.  Wishing  you  eminent 
success  in  your  great  moral  enterprise,  and  a  pleasant  sojourn  in 
the  fatherland,  I  remain,  yours,  very  sincerely. 


472  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


STATE    CEEDITS. 

Albany,  September  16,  1839. 

To  William  Brown,  Esq.,  of  the  House  of  Brown,  Brothers, 
&  Co.,  Liverpool. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  great  pleasure  in  acknowledging  the 
receipt  of  your  very  interesting  communication,  of  the  23d  of 
July  last.  I  rejoice  in  the  indications  that  a  reduction  of  English 
postage  is  about  to  take  place.  The  policy  is  an  obvious  one, 
both  for  the  purpose  of  increase  of  revenue,  and  what  is  more 
important,  the  increase  of  intelligence,  and  the  prosperity  of 
commerce.  We  shall  come  to  the  same  measure,  but  I  fear  not 
so  rapidly  as  the  English  government. 

I  think  your  suggestions  concerning  the  hazard  of  confiscation 
of  investments,  by  foreigners  in  American  stocks,  very  important 
and  useful.  I  beg  you  to  consider  me  under  very  special  obliga- 
tions for  them.  I  can  easily  appreciate  the  solicitude  foreign 
capitalists  feel  on  that  subject,  although  no  person  here  even 
dreams  that  our  government  could  be  guilty  of  so  gross  a  viola- 
tion of  faith  as  to  confiscate  in  time  of  war,  money  invested  in 
our  securities  in  time  of  peace.  It  will  give  me  great  pleasure  to 
use  these  valuable  suggestions  in  a  manner  which  may  be  of 
service  in  increasing  our  credit.  I  have  noticed  the  decline  of 
confidence  in  American  securities.  Nothing  can  be  more  absurd ; 
but  what  absurdity  does  not  gain  a  temporary  influence  in  the 
operations  upon  'change  ?  Can  you  add  to  my  obligations  by  any 
further  suggestions,  which  would  be  of  service  to  me  in  present- 
ing to  the  public  the  grounds  of  American  credit  in  Europe  ? 

I  am,  dear  sir,  with  the  most  sincere  respect  and  esteem,  your 
friend  and  obedient  servant. 


PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  473 


PRISON  DISCIPLINE. 

Albany,  October,  1,  1839. 

To  the  Rev.  John  Lijckey,  Chaplain  of  the  Stateprison  at 
Mount  Pleasant. 

Dear  Sir  :  My  correspondence  has  become  so  much  deranged 
during  my  absence  from  this  city,  that  I  find  I  have  neglected  an 
acknowledgment  of  your  very  interesting  communication  of  the 
8th  of  August  last.  I  have  great  pleasure  in  saying  that  all  its 
suggestions  seem  to  me  both  wise  and  benevolent.  It  is  my 
purpose  to  call  the  attention  of  the  legislature  to  the  expediency 
of  making  some  legislative  provision  for  the  instruction  of  con- 
victs in  the  prisons,  and  I  find  myself  sustained  and  enlightened 
on  the  subject  by  your  communication.  In  reply  to  Mr.  Wiltsies' 
suggestion,  that  if  he  could  be  authorized  to  do  so  he  would  pro- 
cure sixty  or  eighty  spelling-books,  I  very  cheerfully  give  my 
advice  that  it  shall  be  done ;  and  whatever  of  influence  I  may 
have,  shall  be  exercised  to  procure  the  allowance  of  the  expenses 
incurred  for  that  purpose,  as  well  as  obtaining  the  sanction  of 
the  legislature  to  the  same.  I  shall  always  be  pleased  to  receive 
your  communications  on  all  subjects  affecting  the  prison. 

With  sincere  respect  and  esteem,  I  am,  your  obedient  servant. 


474  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


RELIGIOUS   LIBERTY. 

Albany,   October  28,  1839. 

To  John  Dillon  Smith,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  yesterday,  and  am 
gratified  with  the  information  which  it  communicates.  I  sin- 
cerely hope  you  may  be  successful  in  your  enterprise,  and  I  am 
very  sure  that  the  talent  and  research  exhibited  in  your  journal 
ought  to  secure  success. 

No  truth  was  ever  more  clear,  than  that  the  connection  between 
religious  and  civil  institutions,  is  calculated  to  degrade  and  cor- 
rupt both.  It  is  as  applicable  to  the  action  of  parties,  as  to  the 
action  of  government.  Religious  sentiments  and  motives  ought 
to  have  their  sway  in  all  political  action,  as  in  every  other  duty 
of  life,  and  public  agents  ought  always  to  regard,  with  equal 
respect,  the  consciences  of  all  classes  of  Christians.  I  confidently 
believe,  my  dear  sir,  that  these  principles  are  so  rapidly  gaining 
favor,  that  he  who  maintains  them  will  not  long  be  regarded  as 
teaching  some  new  thing. 

I  believe,  sir,  that  no  democratic  government  can  stand  but 
oy  the  support  of  Christianity.  I  believe,  also,  that  it  is  an 
essential  principle  of  democracy,  that  there  should  be  unlimited 
freedom  of  conscience. 

With  sincere  respect  and  esteem,  your  friend  and  obedient 
servant. 


STATE  CREDITS.  475 


STATE   CKEDITS. 

.  Albany,  November  4,  1839 

To  William  Brown,  Esq.,  Liverpool  : 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  am  indebted  to  you  for  your  very  welcome 
letter  of  the  14th  October.  Your  suggestions  in  regard  to  the 
expediency  of  statutory  provisions  against  confiscations  of  invest- 
ments made  in  our  stocks  by  foreigners,  are  very  judicious. 

You  will  have  learned,  before  this  will  reach  you,  of  the  sus- 
pension of  our  southern  banks.  I  fear  that  intelligence  will 
shake  the  confidence  which  had  already  arisen  from  the  success- 
ful negotiations  of  the  bank  of  the  United  States  in  regard  to 
loans.  Much  speculation  has  been  indulged  here  concerning  the 
condition  and  stability  of  the  Bank  of  England.  Indeed  the  most 
probable  relief  of  our  monetary  embarrassments  was  supposed  to 
be  the  suspension  of  that  institution.  But  while  the  news  brought 
by  the  Great  Western  shows  that  that  expectation  will  not  be 
realized,  we  have  seen  with  great  satisfaction  the  rate  of  ex- 
change go  down,  and  the  demand  for  specie  subsiding.  The 
New  York  banks,  and  other  institutions  in  this  state,  will,  I  have 
no  doubt,  remain  firm.  If  so,  they  will  be  able  to  assist  the  sus- 
pended banks  at  an  early  day  in  resuming  specie  payments. 

Our  general  banking  law  requires  amendments,  and  I  entertain 
great  confidence  that  with  such  amendments  it  will  prove  useful, 
and  institutions  established  under  it  will  be  firm.  The  improve- 
ment you  suggest,  that  of  making  the  stockholders  personally 
liable,  would  be  impracticable ;  that  is  to  say,  it  is  inconsistent 
with  existing  notions  and  prejudices  here.  I  think,  also,  that  it 
would  be  unavailing.  The  transfer  of  stock  would  discharge  the 
liability,  and  such  transfer  could  be  made  to  insolvent  parties. 

The  currency  is  very  well  secured.  It  would  be  very  beneficial 
to  require,  that  besides  the  security  given  by  bankers  for  their  cir- 
culation and  requiring  them  to  keep  on  hand  twelve  and  a  half  per 


476  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE 

cent,  in  specie,  they  should  be  required  to  pay  in  the  capital  for 
their  operations.  This  requirement,  together  with  a  careful 
supervision  by  commissioners,  would  probably  secure  as  great 
soundness  in  such  institutions  as  would  ever  be  attained  in  any 
way. 

We  are  now  in  the  midst  of  our  annual  election  in  this  state. 
The  great  questions  are  the  financial  scheme  of  the  president, 
called  the  sub-treasury  system,  and  our  local  policy  of  internal  im- 
provements. The  friends  of  the  general  administration  support 
the  sub-treasury  and  oppose  state  institutions.  I  forbear  to  speak 
upon  these  subjects,  as  my  .public  relations  and  the  proprieties 
of  my  place  require  that  I  should  wait  the  verdict  of  the  people. 
You  will  hear  the  result  by  the  same  vessel  that  carries  out  this 
letter.  The  election  is  regarded  with  greater  interest,  because  it 
is  believed  by  very  many  that  the  result  will  indicate  that  of  the 
next  presidential  election. 

With  most  respectful  regards  to  your  family,  I  remain  faithfully 
jour  friend. 


THE    ST.    GEOEGE'S    SOCIETY. 

Albany,  April  18,  1840. 

To  B.  H.  Downing,  Secretary,  &c,  New  York  : 

Sir:  I  have  received  your  note  in  the  name  of  the  president 
and  stewards  of  the  St.  George's  Society,  of  the  city  of  New  York. 
I  regret  that  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  accept  an  invitation  which 
offers  me  so  much  enjoyment,  and  is  acknowledged  as  a  mani- 
festation of  kindness  on  the  part  of  that  highly-respected  society. 

England  and  America  are  so  closely  bound  together,  that  there 
can  be  no  permanent  alienation  between  them.  Prejudices  ex- 
cited by  mercenary  traducers  have  sometimes  occasioned  irrita- 
tion, and  political  questions  have  heretofore  brought  us  into 
fearful  contention.  Yet  the  citizens  of  both  countries  rejoice  in 
the  same  ancestry,  the  same  devotion  to  liberty,  the  same  rever- 
ence for  the  common  law,  the  same  language,  and  the  same 
religion,  while  commerce  and  arts,  operating  with  equal  advan- 
tages to  both  parties,  are  continually  bringing  us  into  more  inti- 


LAW  REFORM.  477 

mate  relations.  Notwithstanding  her  independence,  America 
derives,  from  her  relations  with  England,  greater  advantages 
than  those  heretofore  secured  by  her  colonial  dependence,  and 
England  finds  our  commerce  vastly  more  profitable  than  she 
could  have  realized,  had  her  sovereignty  remained  unbroken. 

Permit  me  to  express  my  earnest  desire  that  the  statesmen  of 
both  countries  may  discover  in  these  circumstances  the  indica- 
tions of  the  will  of  Providence,  that  the  peace  of  the  nations- 
shall  be  perpetual. 

With  very  great  respect,  I  remain  your  obedient  servant. 


LAW  EEFORM. 


Albany,  June  2,  1840. 

To  Benjamin  Cahoon,  Esq.,  President,  &o.,  &c,  Utica  : 

Gentlemen  :  On  the  14th  ultimo,  I  received  your  communica- 
tion, containing  the  proceedings  of  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  of 
Utica,  concerning  measures  then  pending  in  the  legislature  for 
reform  in  the  practice  of  the  law.  The  pressure  of  my  duties 
has  been  so  great,  that  I  have  not  until  now  been  able  to  make 
due  acknowledgments.  You  will  have  seen  that  the  bills  referred 
to  received  the  favorable  consideration  of  the  legislature.  That 
there  was  a  necessity  for  some  relief  was,  I  believe,  universally 
admitted.  That  that  which  has  been  granted  was  not  in  the 
most  perfect  form,  is,  I  think,  very  probable.  But  I  do  not  doubt 
that  it  will  be  found  eminently  beneficial.  If,  as  is  apprehended 
by  some  of  our  fellow-citizens,  it  shall  operate  in  some  respects 
disadvantageously,  the  legislature  will  easily  correct  its  defects. 
It  is  a  happy  result  of  our  system  of  government,  that  the  will  of 
the  people  operates  directly  upon  the  legislature;  that  abuses 
are  not  as  in  other  countries  suffered  to  become  inveterate,  and 
that  errors  of  legislation  are  promptly  corrected,  as  soon  as  they 
are  discovered. 

I  beg  you  to  make  known  to  the  citizens  you  represent  my 
grateful  acknowledgments  for  the  kindness  expressed  toward  me, 
and  to  assure  them  that  it  shall  be  my  constant  effort  to  exercise 
the  powers  intrusted  to  me  in  such  a  manner  as  to  maintain. 


478  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

equal  rights  among  all  classes  of  society  and  promote  the  general 
welfare. 

Be  pleased  to  accept  the  assurances  of  the  sincere  respect  with 
which  I  remain  your  obedient  servant. 


THE   CUNARD   STEAMEES. 

Auburn,  July  18,  1840. 

To  the  Executive  Committee,  &c,  of  Boston: 

Gentlemen  :  Your  letter  of  the  13th  instant,  inviting  me  to  the 
public  dinner  to  be  given  by  the  citizens  of  Boston  to  the  Hon. 
Samuel  Cunard,  on  the  arrival  of  the  steamship  Britannia,  has 
been  received.  I  regret  that  my  engagements  for  the  next  week 
prohibit  my  acceptance  of  the  very  gratifying  invitation.  It 
would  afford  me  very  great  pleasure  to  exchange  congratula- 
tions with  you  upon  the  success  of  the  great  enterprise  which  it 
is  your  purpose  to  celebrate,  and  to  testify  my  high  respect  and 
admiration  for  the  character  of  the  gentlemen  to  whose  munifi- 
cence and  efforts  the  citizens  of  Boston  are  deeply  indebted. 

What  a  singular  change  has  come  over  the  relations  of  the 
New  World  to  the  Old  within  the  last  sixty-five  years !  England 
was  seen  exhausting  her  wealth  in  1776  and  1777,  in  sending 
troops  and  munitions  of  war  to  exact  tribute  from  the  citizens  of 
Boston,  and  each  transport  consumed  a  period  of  about  two 
months.  Now,  Europeans  compete  with  each  other  in  sending 
steamships  to  secure  a  willing  commerce,  which  enriches  England 
a  hundred  times  more  than  the  statesmen  of  George  III.  antici- 
pated from  all  their  exactions.  We  of  this  state  have  no  narrow 
jealousies  of  Massachusetts.  We  rejoice  to  see  the  establish- 
ment of  steam-packets  at  Boston,  and  we  welcome  your  extension 
of  your  railroad  to  Albany.  We  can  not  avoid  being  profited 
by  a  direct  trade  with  the  great  manufacturing  state  of  the  Union, 
and  the  opening  of  a  new  market  to  our  citizens.  The  ocean  is 
wide  enough  for  you  and  for  us  ;  and  they  have  but  a  very  inade- 
quate conception  of  the  resources  of  the  republic,  who  doubt  that 
there  will  be  an  increase  of  internal  trade  and  foreign  commerce, 
as  fast  at  least  as  the  increase  of  facilities  for  them.     We  see  in 


THE  CUNARD  STEAMERS.  479 

the  great  enterprise  you  celebrate,  an  evidence  that  we  have  not 
misestimated  the  trade  of  the  Great  West,  to  secure  which  has 
been  the  great  object  of  our  policy.  It  shames  us  that  we  pro- 
ceed so  slowly  in  constructing  our  railroads,  and  that  we  are  at 
all  skeptical  concerning  the  enlargement  of  our  canal,  from  the 
tide- waters  to  the  lakes,  when  we  see  the  citizens  of  Boston,  al- 
ways sagacious  and  successful,  extending  a  railroad  to  Albany  to 
compete  with  our  own  commercial  city,  and  establishing  steam- 
packets  to  participate  in  the  exchange  between  the  far  west  and 
foreign  countries.  These  are  practical  refutations  of  the  absurd- 
ity of  the  fears  recently  promulgated  among  us,  that  our  state  is 
to  be  impoverished  by  the  improvement  of  our  roads  and  canals, 
and  the  reduction  of  the  expense  of  transportation.  We  rejoice, 
moreover,  in  the  assurance  this  enterprise  gives  us  of  the  perpe- 
tuity of  our  Union.  None  but  a  despotic  government  could  hold 
this  great  nation  together  under  one  constitution,  without  estab- 
lishing a  connection  of  interest  and  affection  between  its  several 
regions.  Neither  the  colonists  at  Plymouth,  nor  those  at  New 
Amsterdam,  nor  those  on  the  James  river,  anticipated  such  a 
connection.  Their  plans  embraced  only  the  boundaries  defined 
in  their  charters.  It  never  entered  into  their  hearts  to  conceive 
that  they  were  co-operating  in  laying  the  foundation  of  one  great 
nation,  which  should  extend  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  gulf  of 
Mexico.  The  combination  of  the  colonies  resulted  from  a  com- 
mon exigency,  and,  in  spite  of  all  the  patriotic  councils  of  revo- 
lutionary age,  would  probably  at  no  distant  day  have  ceased,  had 
not  the  natural  channels  of  trade  of  the  several  states  been  con- 
nected by  these  great  works  of  art. 

Who  can  alienate  the  states  from  each  other,  when  they  shall 
be  bound  together  by  iron  bands?  How  can  prejudices  continue 
and  collisions  arise  between  us,  when  the  mighty  agent,  steam, 
shall  have  effectually  established  mutual  intercourse  among  us  ? 


480  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


SCHOOLS. 

Albany,  December  17,  1840. 

To  Mr.  William  Palmer: 

Dear  Sir  :  I  acknowledge  with  gratitude  your  very  kind  letter 
of  the  15th  instant,  and  the  gift  which  accompanied  it.  Such 
evidences  of  generosity  and  kindness  affect  me  much,  and  cheer 
me  in  my  efforts  to  discharge  my  difficult  responsibilities.  I  re- 
gret that  your  engagements  when  in  the  city  did  not  permit  you 
to  visit  me.  It  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  see  you  whenever 
your  business  calls  you  in  this  direction. 

You  have  very  rightly  understood  my  views  of  education,  and 
have  taken  a  very  just  view  of  the  importance  of  the  subject. 
Universal  suffrage  is  a  new  element  in  government,  and  it  in- 
volves as  a  necessary  consequence  universal  educatidTfTor  its 
safe~guidance  and  duration.  Knowledge  taughTby  any  sect  is 
better  thaiT  ignorance.  I  desire  to  see  the  children  of  Catholics 
educated  as  well  as  those  of  Protestants;  not  because  I  want 
them  Catholics,  but  because  I  want  them  to  become  good  citi- 
zens. In  due  time  these  views  will  prevail,  notwithstanding  the 
prejudices  that  have  assailed  them. 

Wishing  you  the  blessings  of  health  and  domestic  happiness, 
I  remain  your  obliged  and  obedient  servant. 


MILITIA  DUTY  4:81 


MILITIA   DUTY. 

Albany,  February  11,  1841. 

To  Samuel  Parsons,  Flushing,  L.  I. : 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  letter  of  the  7th  instant  was  duly  received. 
I  am  happy  to  see  that  the  Society  of  Friends  is  taking  measures 
to  appeal  to  their  fellow-citizens  to  relieve  them  from  the  oppres- 
sion they  suffer  by  reason  of  their  conscientious  repugnance  to 
military  service.  I  have  also  observed  with  much  pleasure  that 
no  dissent  has  been  anywhere  manifested  in  regard  to  the  views 
upon  that  subject  submitted  by  me  to  the  legislature.  I  fear  I 
am  not  able  to  give  advice  which  will  be  useful  on  the  subject. 
Yet  I  will  venture  to  suggest  that  it  will  be  found  on  inquiry 
that  the  public  do  not  know  the  extent  of  the  inconvenience  and 
hardships  which  arise.  I  confess  I  should  not  have  so  well  under- 
stood it  myself  but  from  the  experience  I  have  had  as  an  appellate 
military  officer.  Permit  me,  therefore,  to  suggest,  as  a  prelimi- 
nary to  the  discussion  of  the  subject,  that  the  society  obtain  from 
its  members  a  careful  statement  of  all  the  military  fines  adjudged 
against  persons  throughout  the  state  conscientiously  objecting  to 
military  service  and  commutation  —  the  number  of  cases  in  which 
property  is  sacrificed,  and  personal  liberty  violated.  Should 
such  a  statement  be  transmitted  to  me,  it  will  be  very  useful. 

Be  pleased  to  make  known  to  the  representatives  of  the  Soci- 
ety of  Friends  my  grateful  acknowledgments  of  their  kind  expres- 
sions in  regard  to  this  and  other  subjects  referred  to  in  your 
communication.  I  may  have  anticipated  the  liberality  of  my 
fellow-citizens  in  relation  to  all  these  subjects,  but  I  am  sure  that 
the  time  is  not  distant  when  the  sentiments  I  have  expressed  will 
find  their  full  expression  in  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  state. 

With  sincere  respect  and  esteem,  I  remain  your  obedient  ser- 
vant. 

Vol.  III.— 31 


18.?  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


SCHOOLS. 

Albany,  May  18,  1841. 

To  Rev.  John  Hughes,  D.  D.,  &c.  : 

Dear  Sir  :  You  will  please  accept  my  acknowledgments  for 
your  letter  of  the  11th  instant.  It  contains  a  new  proof  of  your 
kind  desire  to  divert  from  me  the  shafts  of  open  enemies  and 
apparent  friends.  While  I  do  not  doubt  that  your  prudential 
views  are  as  wise  as  they  are  kind,  in  regard  to  myself,  yet  you 
will  permit  me  to  observe  that,  confiding  always  in  truth  and  in 
the  intelligence  of  the  people,  I  have  not  feared  at  any  time  to 
avow  distinctly,  and  maintain  in  argument  and  action,  the  prin- 
ciples and  measures  which  are  involved  in  the  effort  to  extend 
the  system  of  common-school  education  to  all  the  children  in  the 
state.  Nor  do  the  temporary  misconstruction  and  misrepresenta- 
tion, through  which  I  am  passing,  alarm  me.  In  this,  as  in  all 
other  cases,  I  deem  it  only  necessary  that  my  opinions  and  pro- 
ceedings be  fairly  and  frankly  communicated,  even  under  cir- 
cumstances most  unfavorable  to  a  candid  judgment  of  them,  and 
I  cheerfully  trust  the  conclusion  with  my  countrymen.  Public 
opinion  is  the  great  agent,  in  this  country,  in  accomplishing  all 
measures  designed  to  promote  the  public  welfare.  That  agent 
can  not  be  called  into  operation  without  producing  excitement 
and  agitation.  Through  all  the  excitement  and  agitation  which 
the  present  discussion  produces,  I  look  to  the  great  ends  of  the 
equal  dissemination  of  knowledge,  and  the  consequent  improve- 
ment of  society. 

I  trust  that  my  public  life  has  shown  that  I  never  hesitate  to 
present  even  an  unwelcome  truth  to  my  fellow-citizens ;  and  al- 
though I  have  sometimes  been  in  advance  of  public  opinion,  all 
will  agree  that  I  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  want  of  kindness 
on  the  part  of  the  people.  I  know  that  truth  will  ultimately  be- 
come acceptable ;  and  so  in  regard  to  the  present  state  of  the 
school-question,  I  am  desirous  that  the  real  interest  of  the  Catho- 


SCHOOLS.  483 

lies  in  the  question  should  be  known.  If  it  were  true,  as  some 
contend,  that  none  but  Catholic  children  are  neglected,  I  would 
nevertheless  maintain  that  the  Catholic  children  ought  to  be  edu- 
cated. If  it  be  true  that  none  but  Catholics  complain,  I  uphold 
the  Catholics  in  complaining.  If  Catholics  only  are  offended  in 
conscience,  I  maintain  that  that  offence  ought  not  to  be  contin- 
ued by  authority  of  law.  Many  Protestants  have  been  offended 
because  they  feared  that,  by  obtaining  equal  advantages  of  edu- 
cation for  their  children,  Catholics  might  acquire  undue  influ- 
ence ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  many  Catholics  have  been  led,  by 
misrepresentation,  to  believe  that  such  liberal  sentiments  as  I 
have  advanced  could  not  be  sincere. 

I  assure  you,  my  dear  sir,  that  during  all  the  agitation  which 
we  have  seen,  I  have  had  but  one  cause  of  regret  —  which  was, 
that  notwithstanding  I  have  never  affected  concealment,  yet  for 
a  brief  time,  when  I  was  a  candidate  for  public  favor,  and  politi- 
cal and  religious  excitement  ran  very  high,  an  impression  was  to 
a  limited  extent  made  upon  the  public  mind  unfavorable  to  the 
sincerity  of  the  opinions  I  have  publicly  expressed.  The  time 
has  now  arrived  for  my  vindication.  I  am  not  now  a  candidate, 
nor  can  I  foresee  an  occasion  when  I  shall  either  find  it  my  duty, 
or  have  a  desire,  to  offer  myself  for  the  suffrages  of  my  fellow- 
citizens.  Whatever  may  have  been  thought  heretofore,  I  can 
afford  now  at  least  to  be  frank  and  honest.  I  reaffirm  all  I  have 
before  promulgated  concerning  the  policy  of  this  country  in  re- 
gard to  foreigners,  and  the  education  of  their  children. 

Moreover,  I  invite  all  who  may  take  the  trouble  to  look  through 
the  records  of  my  public  action,  and  to  institute  an  inquiry  into 
my  private  correspondence  and  conversation ;  and  if  a  word  or 
thought  inconsistent  with  the  public  opinions  I  have  expressed 
shall  be  produced,  I  shall  cheerfully  acknowledge  the  justice  of 
those  who  temporarily  delay  the  accomplishment  of  the  great 
public  measures  I  advocate,  by  questioning  the  sincerity  with 
which  they  have  been  recommended.  It  can  not  be  necessary  to 
say  to  you,  sir,  that  I  deny  altogether  the  design  attributed  to 
me  of  breaking  up  the  public  schools  of  E"ew  York.  I  would, 
on  the  contrary,  increase  their  efficiency,  if  possible,  while  I 
open  their  doors,  or  those  of  other  equally  useful  institutions, 
to  such  as  are  for  any  cause  deprived  of  the  advantages  of  edu- 
cation they  afford. 


484  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

In  regard  to  the  reform  desired,  I  adopt  the  apostolic  injunc- 
tion, in  which  all  wise  statesmen  and  sound  Christians  agree : 
"Prove  all  things ;  hold  fast  that  which  is  good." 

I  am,  dear  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 


THE   SENECA  INDIANS. 

Axbany,  June  15,   1841. 

Tc  Jacob  Harvey,  Esq. 

Dear  Sir  :  Your  letter  of  May  26,  has  been  received,  you  ask 
my  opinion  concerning  the  treaty  which  has  been  made  by  the 
United  States  with  the  Seneca  Indians,  and  you  observe  that  it  is 
important  for  those  Indians  to  show,  that  their  removal  is  against 
the  decided  wishes  of  fifteen  sixteenths  of  the  nation,  and  that  it 
is  not  called  for  by  the  executive  of  this  state,  by  the  legisla- 
ture, or  by  the  well-disposed  and  humane  people  of  the  western 
counties. 

The  history  of  the  several  nations  which  have  dwelt  within  our 
borders,  shows  many  coincidents  of  painful  interest.  Each 
nation  has  in  its  turn  been  surrounded  and  crowded  by  white 
men.  "White  men  have  always  wanted  more  room,  while  an 
Indian  reservation  remained,  and  the  Indians  have,  therefore,  been 
obliged  to  contract  their  hunting-grounds.  Indians  have  been 
ignorant  and  confiding,  and  white  men  shrewd  and  sagacious. 
Indians  have  been  reckless  of  the  value  of  property,  and  have 
always  found  avaricious  white  men  among  their  neighbors. 
White  men  have  sold  intoxicating  liquors,  and  Indians  have  too 
often  surrendered  themselves  to  drunkenness.  Indians  have 
generally  neglected,  if  they  have  not  despised,  agriculture,  and 
white  men  have  suffered  inconvenience  from  the  neglected  con- 
dition of  the  Indian  lands.  White  men  have  coveted  those 
neglected  lands,  and  the  community  has  been  benefited  in  conse- 
quence of  their  acquisition.  The  effect  is  that  we  have  now 
among  us  only  some  wasting  remnants  of  half  a  dozen  of  the 
Indian  nations.  Yet  each  of  these  nations,  for  a  time,  resisted 
propositions  for  their  removal  strenuously,  and  with  apparent 
unanimity.     Each  has,  in  its  turn,  divided  upon  the  question  of 


THE  SENECA  INDIANS.  485 

removal.  The  weak  and  improvident  have  been  wrought  upon 
to  increase  the  numbers  of  those  disposed  to  sell  their  lands, 
while  philanthropic  efforts  have  not  been  wanting  to  fortify  the 
domestic  party  in  their  resistance. 

I  do  not  know  that  the  disproportion  of  the  two  parties  among 
the  Senecas  is  so  great  as  you  have  stated.  I  must  refer  you  on 
that  head  to  other  persons  for  information.  Neither  should  I 
speak  candidly,  if  I  said  that  the  people  of  the  western  counties 
did  not  desire  such  a  change  in  the  condition  of  the  Senecas,  as 
would  bring  their  lands  into  cultivation,  and  render  them  tribu- 
tary to  the  aggregate  wealth,  and  general  improvement  of  the 
state.  Such,  I  must  add,  is  my  own  wrish.  The  legislature  has 
not  spoken  on  the  subject,  but  its  concurrence  in  the  same  view 
might  be  inferred  from  the  general  policy  which  the  state  has 
pursued.  Nevertheless,  there  is  nothing  which  would  be  more 
gratifying  to  the  people  of  this  state,  and  certainly  there  is,  on 
my  part,  no  desire  affecting  the  Indians  more  sincere,  than  to  see 
the  remnants  of  the  Indian  •  tribes  forsake  entirely  the  manners 
and  customs  of  their  forefathers,  and  adopt  those  of  civilized  life. 
The  signal  disappointment  of  such  philanthropic  hopes  in  regard 
to  the  other  tribes  of  Indians,  has  produced* a  great  distrust  of 
any  better  fate  for  the  Senecas  while  the  contiguity  of  that  people 
to  a  great  city,  exposes  them  in  an  especial  degree  to  the  frauds, 
and  introduces  among  them  the  vices,  of  depraved  men  of  our 
own  race.  Yery  many  who  entertain  this  distrust,  and  deplore 
the  wretchedness  and  degradation  of  a  portion  of  the  Senecas, 
are  of  opinion  that  it  would  be  wise  and  prudent  for  them  to 
relinquish  their  lands  at  a  fair  valuation,  and  seek  a  new  home  in 
the  far  west.  But  no  humane  or  enlightened  citizen  can  wish  to 
see  the  expulsion  of  the  Senecas  by  force  or  fraud.  It  is  a  fear- 
ful thing  to  nproot  a  whole  people,  and  send  them,  regardless  of 
their  own  rights,  interests,  and  welfare,  their  feelings  and  affec- 
tions, into  a  distant  and  desolate  region.  It  is  peculiarly  so 
when  a  large  portion,  relying  upon  the  protection  of  the  laws, 
and  the  justice  of  their  white  brethren,  have  become  cultivators 
of  the  soil,  and  of  the  affections  and  habits  of  civilized  life.  Such 
is  the  condition  of  a  large  portion  of  the  Senecas.  Injustice  to 
the  Indians  is  repugnant  alike  to  the  settled  policy  of  this  state, 
and  the  feelings  and  sentiments  of  its  people.  This  state  has 
endeavored  steadily  to  pursue  a  benign  policy  toward  them.     We 


486  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

have  suffered  every  tribe  to  remain  unmolested,  and  have  ever 
discouraged  the  desire  of  small  factions  among  them  to  effect  the 
sale  of  their  lands  without  the  general  consent  of  the  tribe.  We 
have  left  the  Indians  to  debate  and  consider  the  subject  without 
our  interference.  When  a  portion  of  a  tribe  have  made  arrange- 
ments to  purchase  lands  elsewhere,  and  obtained  the  consent  of 
the  whole  nation  to  a  partition,  we  have  bought  that  portion  of 
the  lands  equitably  belonging  to  those  who  had  determined  to 
emigrate,  requiring,  in  all  cases,  the  consent  of  the  whole  tribe 
to  such  partial  sales. 

During  the  last  few  years,  the  state,  instead  of  purchasing  for 
its  own  advantage,  has  taken  the  title  of  the  Indians,  sold  the 
lands  as  their  trustee,  and  accounted  to  them  for  the  whole 
proceeds  of  the  subsequent  sales  in  fee  to  actual  settlers.  We 
have  paid  interest  upon  the  purchase-moneys  to  the  emigrating 
Indians  in  their  new  settlements,  and  have  paid  them  the  princi- 
pal when  they  have  provided  a  proper  and  safe  investment.  At 
the  same  time  we  have  endeavored,  through  the  agency  of  peace- 
makers and  superintendents,  to  exercise  a  guardian  care  over 
those  who  preferred  to  remain  among  us.  No  bribe,  gratuity, 
or  other  improper  appliance,  has  been  used,  or  with  knowledge 
permitted,  by  the  state,  to  obtain  a  relinquishment  of  Indian 
lands.  We  take,  in  all  cases,  a  census  of  the  tribe,  and  of  each 
family.  We  regard  all  their  members  with  perfect  equality. 
And  wTe  take  care  that  the  moneys  paid  to  the  nation  are  fairly 
and  justly  distributed  among  them. 

Such  is  the  course  which  it  may  be  assumed  the  people  of  this 
state  would  desire  to  see  prevail  in  regard  to  the  Senecas.  In 
this  way  we  might  hope  to  accomplish,  if  it  be  at  all  practicable, 
the  civilization  of  a  remnant  of  the  Six  Nations,  once  the  proprie- 
tors of  more  than  half  the  state.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
humane  experiment  must  fail,  we  should  enjoy,  under  such  cir- 
cumstances, the  consoling  reflection  that  the  effort  had  failed  be- 
cause a  Higher  than  any  human  power  had  forbidden  its  success. 

But,  my  dear  sir,  I  can  not  hesitate  to  declare  my  full  convic- 
tion, derived  from  history  now  open  to  the  world,  that  the  treaty 
which  has  been  made  by  the  United  States  with  the  Senecas,  was 
made  in  open  violation  of  the  policy  I  have  described.  I  am 
fully  satisfied  that  the  consent  of  the  Senecas  was  obtained  by 
fraud,  corruption,  and  violence,  and  that  it  is  therefore  false,  and 


CONDOLENCE.  487 

ought  to  be  held  void.  The  re'moval  of  the  Indians  would,  under 
such  circumstances,  be  a  great  crime  against  an  unoffending  and 
injured  people;  and  I  earnestly  hope  that,  before  any  further 
proceedings  are  taken  to  accomplish  that  object,  the  whole  sub- 
ject may  be  reconsidered  by  the  United  States. 
I  am,  with  sincere  respect,  your  obedient  servant. 


CONDOLENCE. 

Albany,  June  28,  1841. 

To  Louis   Gaylord  Clark,  Esq.  : 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  received  your  affecting  account  of  the  death 
of  my  esteemed  friend,  your  brother  Willis  Gaylord  Clark,  just 
before  my  departure  on  a  recent  visit  to  Massachusetts.  I  fore- 
bore  to  acknowledge  it  immediately,  because  I  felt  that  I  could 
not  say  anything  which  would  not  seem  cold  and  unfeeling  in  the 
freshness  of  your  affliction. 

Your  brother  was  indeed  very  near  to  me.  I  know  not  why, 
but  he  attached  himself  to  me  with  a  younger  brother's  respect 
and  affection,  and  he  persevered  through  good  and  through  evil 
report  in  defending  me  against  every  injury  and  unkindness.  I 
felt  always  my  poverty  in  being  unable  adequately  to  reciprocate 
his  kind  offices.  I  know  and  always  knew  how  devoted  was  the 
affection  he  bore  toward  you,  and  I  know  from  experience  how 
invaluable  are  a  brother's  aid  and  support  in  the  varied  duties 
of  life.  I  give  you  my  sympathy,  although  I  know  it  to  be  un- 
availing. 

For  your  brother  we  have  nothing  to  lament.  "  Whom  the 
gods  love  die  young"  was  a  proverb  among  the  ancients.  All 
my  observation  confirms  the  belief  that  our  heavenly  Father  is 
most  kind  to  those  whom  at  an  early  age  he  calls  away  from  the 
contentions  and  corruption  of  human  life.  Your  brother  was  per- 
mitted to  be  fortunate  here  in  the  mutuality  of  friendship  and 
affection,  in  independence  of  fortune,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of 
fame  without  envy.  His  bright-eyed  boy,  although  bereaved  of 
both  parents,  falls  into  the  care  of  those  who  will  amply  provide 
for  him  and  tenderly  watch  over  him.     They  are  .Willis  Gaylord 


488  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE 

Clark's  friends  who  suffer  by  his  death ;  myself  not  a  little — you 
most  of  all. 

I  read  with  fullness  of  heart  Mr.  Chandler's  tribute  to  the  mem- 
ory of  my  friend.  It  was  so  just,  so  generous,  and  so  affectionate, 
that  I  thought  I  was  discharging  a  duty  to  your  brother  by  con- 
ferring upon  the  writer  the  office  which  your  brother's  decease 
restored  to  me.  This,  as  you  will  ha,ve  perceived,  was  done  be- 
fore I  received  your  letter  of  the  17th  instant,  suggesting  to  me 
a  manner  in  which  I  could  have  bestowed  the  office  even  more 
in  harmony  with  your  brother's  wishes.  I  need  not  say  that 
those  wishes  would  have  prevailed  with  me.  Possibly  I  may  be 
able  to  recognise  them  hereafter.  I  shall  be  very  much  gratified 
with  the  further  details  you  promise  me  concerning  your  broth- 
er's last  hours.  Until  the  occasion  offers  for  communicating 
them,  accept  the  assurance  of  my  sincere  respect  and  constant 
friendship. 


SCHOOLS. 

Albany,  June  30,  1841. 

To  Benjamin  Birdsall,  Esq.  : 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  30th  instant, 
informing  me  that  you  have  observed  indications  that  the  efforts 
I  am  making  to  bring  the  neglected  children  in  thje_city  of  New 
York  within  the  nurture  of  the  public  schools  are  appreciated  by 
those  parents  who  have  regarded  the  present  system  as  unequal 
jmdjmrjust,  and  that  my  views  and  notions  are  better  understood 
than  heretofore.    Unquestionably  the  cordial  co-operation  of  those 
J- to  whom  you  refer  is  exceedingly  important  in  securing  the  ad- 
HW    \  vantages  °f  education  to  every  child^   While  I  am  by  no  means 
'""wearied  or  disheartened  in  the  cause  I  have  undertaken,  and  in 
which  at  the  same  time  I  have  boldly  opposed  myself  to  the  prej- 
udices of  native  citizens  against  foreigners,  and  been  made  to 
feel  in  my  own  person  the  retaliation  by  foreigners  of  those  very 

t»rejudices,  I  will  not  deny  that  it  would  be  consoling  to  me  to 
eceive  the  support  and  confidence  of  my  fellow-citizens.  This 
however  is  a  consolation  of  which  I  have  not  promised  myself  an 
immediate  enjoyment.     In  my  policy  concerning  education  and 


# 


SCHOOLS.  43y 

naturalization,  I  am  accustomed  to  look  not  to  the  present  hour 
buttoJ^futuisr—  to  that  period  not  a  quarter  of  a  century  distant 
when  the  population  of  this  country  shall  have  swelled  to  thirty- 
five  millions,  and  that  of  our  own  state  to  five  or  six  millions. 
If  at  that  time  the  prejudices  on  the  grounds  of  birth,  language, 
and  religion,  which  now  array  classes  of  society  against  each 
other,  shall  have  disappeared,  and  the  American  nation  shall 
have  become  a  homogeneous  people,  universally  educated  and 
imbued  with  the  principles  of  morality  and  virtue,  my  wishes 
and  my  anticipations  will  all  be  realized.  I  have  an  undoubting 
faith  in  these  results.  I  feel  assured,  moreover,  that  in  less  than 
half  that  time  the  streets  and  alleys  of  New  York  will  cease  to  be 
infested  with  vagrant  and  vicious  children,  and  the  volumes  of 
the  school  district  library  will  be  found  in  the  dwellings  of  the 
humblest  immigrant  as  well  as  of  the  richest  native  citizen. 

You  can  easily  conceive,  therefore,  that  I  can  cheerfully  sub- 
mit to  temporary  misapprehension  and  misrepresentation,  which 
perhaps  would  be  less  endurable  if  any  benevolent  reform  was 
ever  carried  forward  without  encountering  both.  Many,  I  know, 
think  me  unwise  in  regard  to  popularity.  Perhaps  I  may  be  so. 
If  so,  I  am  aware  that  I  should  be  a  false  and  ungrateful  citizen 
to  seek  popularity  by  the  sacrifice  of  any  interest  of  my  country. 
Such  a  course  would  be  an  ungrateful  return  for  the  confidence' 
my  fellow-citizens  have  already  reposed  in  me.  Besides  the  re- 
sult alone  can  show  whether  those  who  pursue  a  temporizing 
policy,  yielding  to  every  prejudice,  or  those  who  consider  well 
their  principles  and  firmly  adhere  to  them,  are  most  sure  of  the 
favor  of  a  free  and  enlightened  people.  The  course  I  am  pursu- 
ing is  the  same  I  have  always  followed,  and  none  will  contend 
that  I  have  not  received  the  full  measure  of  favor  I  have  deserved. 
Of  all  human  evils,  that  which  I  least  fear  is  that  I  shall  enjoy 
less  of  the  kindness  of  my  countrymen  than  I  deserve. 

With  sincere  thanks  for  your  kindness  and  friendship,  I  remain, 
dear  sir,  very  truly  yours. 


490  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 


IRISH   REPEAL. 

Albany,  November  3,  1841. 

To  E.  S.  Derry,  Esq.,  and  Others. 

Gentlemen  :  I  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  communication 
from  Edmund  S.  Derry,  Esq,  corresponding  secretary  of  the 
New  York  Repeal  Association,  informing  me  that  that  society 
had  been  established  in  the  city  of  New  York,  to  encourage  the 
people  of  Ireland  in  their  efforts  to  procure  a  re-establishment 
of  their  national  parliament;  and  tendering  to  me  the  honor  of 
being  enrolled  as  a  member  of  the  association.  I  have  also  been 
honored  with  a  letter  from  William  E.  Fitzgibbon,  Esq.,  of  New 
York,  announcing  the  organization  of  the  Young  Men's  Repeal 
Association,  in  the  same  city,  for  the  same  object,  and  inviting 
me  to  become  a  member  of  that  body. 

Will  you  accept,  gentlemen,  a  reply  in  this  form  to  your 
respective  communications? 

I  can  not,  consistently  with  my  official  relations,  be  a  member 
of  any  political  association  —  not  even  of  one  that  should  be 
established  for  the  promotion  of  principles  and  the  accomplish- 
ment of  domestic  measures  which  receive  my  cordial  approba- 
tion. It  would  be  even  more  incongruous  with  those  relations 
to  connect  myself  with  societies  designed  to  promote  a  change  in 
the  constitution  of  a  foreign  government.  For  this  reason,  I 
respectfully  decline  the  honor  and  privileges  proffered  to  me  by 
the  New  'Jork  Repeal  Association,  and  by  the  Young  Men's 
Repeal  Association  of  the  city  of  New  York.  I  pray  you,  never- 
theless, in  communicating  this  reply,  to  make  known  to  those 
associations  my  grateful  acknowledgments  for  their  respect  and 
kindness. 

In  my  early  youth,  I  learned  to  regard  the  people  of  Ireland 
as  unfortunate  and  oppressed,  but  brave,  generous,  and  especially 


IRISH  REPEAL.  491 

devoted  to  liberty.  Hence  I  came  to  sympathize  in  the  priva- 
tions of  Irishmen  at  home,  and  to  feel  that  a  kind  and  cordial 
welcome  was  due  to  them  when  they  sought  an  asylum  under 
our  republican  institutions.  The  reflection  of  subsequent  years 
has  convinced  me  that  such  sympathies  on  the  part  of  American 
citizens,  are  not  merely  not  injurious  to  our  national  prosperity, 
but  must  necessarily  result  from  an  enlightened  devotion  to  the 
welfare  of  this  country,  and  the  cause  of  democratic  liberty 
throughout  the  world. 

As  I  read  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  it  does  not 
require  citizens  to  withhold  their  sympathies  from  any  other  peo- 
ple struggling  to  ameliorate  their  condition,  or  to  regain  civil 
liberty.  Our  sympathies  have  been  heretofore  freely  expressed 
in  favor  of  the  French,  Greek,  South  American,  Polish,  Texan,, 
and  Canadian  patriots ;  and  I  am  not  aware  of  any  reason  why 
we  should  suppress  similar  sympathies  for  the  people  of  Ireland,, 
unless  it  be  that  they  freely  yielded  to  us,  not  only  sympathy, 
but  generous  aid  in  our  contest  for  independence.  Cherishing 
such  sentiments,  I  have  never  been  of  that  number  of  Ameri- 
cans who  believed  that  Ireland  was  justly  or  necessarily  deprived 
of  that  which  is  the  life  of  nationality  and  of  liberty  —  a  repre- 
sentative legislature. 

It  has  been  my  lot  to  see  for  myself  the  deep  misfortunes 
Ireland  suffers  from  her  dependence  upon  Great  Britain :  and 
my  indignation  against  oppression  never  rose  higher  than  when 
I  found  her  parliament-halls  in  College-Green  converted  into 
a  banking-house,  and  the  places  of  her  orators  and  statesmen 
filled  with  money-changers.  I  have  never  seen  patriotism  or 
genius  more  deserving  of  honor  than  in  the  character  of  Daniel 
O'Connell,  who  seems  to  have  been  raised  up  for  the  purpose  of 
restoring  the  nationality  of  Ireland. 

I  confine  myself  on  this  occasion  to  the  reiteration  of  senti- 
ments which,  as  you  kindly  remind, me,  have  long  since  been 
promulgated.  Although,  under  existing  circumstances,  I  ought 
not  to  obtrude  opinions  concerning  the  subject  of  your  commu- 
nication, I  know  no  reason  why  I  should  withhold  an  assurance 
that  opinions  heretofore  freely  expressed  remain  unchanged.  I 
freely  declare,  therefore,  that  no  opinion  I  have  ever  avowed 
concerning  Ireland  or  Irishmen — whether  such  opinion  was 
expressed  at  home  or  abroad,  in  place  or  as  a  private  citizen,. 


492  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

whether  it  lias  brought  me  favor  or  censure  —  has  been  incon- 
siderately adopted,  or  is  likely  to  be  changed.  I  desire  to  see  a 
representative  parliament  in  Ireland,  for  the  sake  of  the  people 
of  Ireland,  but  more  for  the  sake  of  the  great  cause  of  human 
liberty.  Regarding  representative  legislatures  as  the  bulwarks 
of  freedom,  I  desire  to  see  them  established  in  every  nation, 
state,  province,  and  colony,  throughout  the  world.  The  only 
true  foundation  of  government  is  the  consent  of  the  governed 
expressed  by  representatives  chosen  by  themselves;  and  that 
government  is  most  perfect  and  most  successful  which  extends 
most  broadly  the  right  of  popular  suffrage,  provided  always  that 
education  is  made  as  universal  as  the  elective  franchise. 

Although  personally  I  should  have  no  objection  to  publish 
these  sentiments  at  any  time  and  on  any  suitable  occasion,  I  have 
thought  it  not  improper  to  delay  this  letter  until  it  should  be  too 
late  to  reach  its  destination  before  the  close  of  the  election  which 
is  now  in  progress.  A  different  course  would  have  perhaps  been 
the  subject  of  misapprehension,  injurious  to  the  great  objects 
for  which  the  associations  have  been  formed. 


DICKENS'S   NOTES. 

Albany,  November  18,  1842. 

To  Henry  L.  Webb,  Esq.  : 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  looked  over  Dickens's  notes  of  his  visit 
to  the  New  York  House  of  Detention ;  and  am  satisfied,  that  while 
the  faults  in  the  conduct  of  that  prison  are  not  exaggerated,  nor 
the  dialogue  untrue,  it  nevertheless  tends  to  give,  unintentionally, 
a  wrong  idea  of  the  keeper.  I  do  not  doubt  that  Colonel  Jones 
was  his  guide.  He  is  one  of  the  most  candid  of  men.  So  you 
see  he  denied  nothing  and  -concealed  nothing,  nor  did  he  prevari- 
cate, but  told  the  truth  in  a  homely  way.  I  recognise  some  of 
his  customary  expressions.  But  Dickens  so  turns  the  dialogue 
as  to  make  Jones  appear  bold,  swaggering,  and  rowdyish.  On 
the  contrary,  notwithstanding  his  vulgar  forms  of  speech,  he  is 
gentle,  modest,  and  respectful,  and  it  would  be  easy  for  one  who 
knew  him  to  discover  by  his  answers  that  he  was  abashed. 

Yery  truly  your  friend. 


THE  IRISHMEN  OF  AUBURK  49$- 


■HJVTS.isnY 


THE  IRISHMEN  OF    AUBURK 

Auburn,  December  28,  1843. 

To  Irishmen  at  Auburn: 

Gentlemen  :  I  have  just  received,  and  read  with  most  grateful 
emotions,  the  letter  you  have  addressed  to  me. 

A  communication  from  any  of  my  fellow-citizens,  expressing 
so  much  respect  and  kindness,  could  not  but  be  gratifying.  But 
this,  coming  altogether  unlooked  for,  from  all,  or  nearly  all,  the 
voluntary  citizens  dwelling  in  the  place  of  my  own  residence,  at 
a  time  when  I  no  longer  have  power  or  political  influence,  expec- 
tations or  desires  —  bearing  an  impress  of  single-hearted  sincerity, 
and  transmitted  in  a  manner  so  modest  and  unpretending  —  is 
worth  more  than  a  procession  or  a  title.  I  can  not  consent  to 
receive  without  disclaimer  the  high  praise  you  have  tendered 
me ;  for,  in  reviewing  my  public  life,  I  find  it  fall  rather  of 
wishes  and  efforts,  than  of  achievements  beneficial  to  my  coun- 
try and  mankind.  If  I  have  seemed  to  desire  more  earnestly 
than  some  others  to  meliorate  the  social  condition  of  the  immi- 
grant, and  to  extend  to  his  children  the  benefits  and  blessings  of 
education,  it  was  chiefly  because  such  a  policy  was  enjoined  by 
moral  and  official  obligations ;  and  if  I  am  more  free  than  some 
others  to  yield  sympathy  and  encouragement  to  your  country- 
men in  their  native  land,  in  their  struggle  for  national  restora- 
tion, it  is  only  because  I  have  witnessed  the  oppression  which 
they  endure.  Any  American  citizen  would  think,  and  feel,  and 
act,  as  I  have  done,  if  circumstances  should  afford  him  equal 
information  under  circumstances  as  impressive,  and  he  should  be 
charged  with  equal  responsibilities.  Gentlemen,  we  are  neigh- 
bors, and  we  need  each  other's  friendship,  good  offices,  and  sym- 
pathies, in  social  life.  It  is  an  occasion  of  high  and  enduring 
satisfaction,  that  I  am  thus  assured  of  yours.  It  shall  be  an 
object  of  care  and  solicitude  to  prove  that  your  respect  and 


49i  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

kindness,  so  generously  bestowed,  are  most  gratefully  remem- 
bered and  heartily  reciprocated. 

With  assurances  of  my  best  wishes  for  your  individual  pros- 
perity and  happiness,  and  wTith  an  earnest  desire  that  your  chil- 
dren may  grow  up  trustworthy  members  of  the  American  state, 
and  that  you  and  they,  and  all  moral  persons  who  seek  this  coun- 
try as  an  asylum,  may  enjoy  unquestioned,  and  in  the  fullest  lati- 
tude, the  rights,  privileges,  and  advantages  of  American  citizens, 

I  remain,  very  respectfully  and  sincerely,  your  friend  and 
humble  servant. 


IRELAND   AND   IEISHMEN. 

Auburn,  March  15,  1844. 

To  James  Maher,  and  others,  Albany. 

Generous,  faithful  and  honored  Friends  :  I  should  be  very 
happy  if  I  could  accept  your  invitation  ;  but,  as  Lord  Bacon  said, 
in  urging  his  petition  on  the  queen,  "The  practice  of  the  law 
drinketh  up  much  time  that  I  would  willingly  devote  to  higher 
purposes."  The  pleasures  of  an  ordinary  entertainment  would 
hardly  deserve  to  be  so  distinguished.  But  the  festival  of  St. 
Patrick  in  America,  acquires  dignity  and  interest  from  its  ten- 
dency to  improve  the  American  people,  by  making  them  better 
acquainted  writh  the  virtues,  the  literature  and  the  achievements 
of  your  good  and  gifted  countrymen  ;  and  just  now  it  is  elevated, 
because  it  furnishes  an  occasion  for  the  expression  of  our  sym- 
pathies with  the  people  of  Ireland  in  their  heroic  and  truly 
majestic  though  peaceful  revolution.  Nevertheless,  I  must  forego 
the  hospitalities  you  tender  me,  and,  so  far  as  duty  is  concerned, 
reserve  myself  for  occasions  of  a  sterner  character,  if  any  shall 
happen. 

The  rebellion  of  1798,  with  all  its  heroic  conceptions,  and  its 
deeply  tragic  catastrophe,  were  fresh  in  the  memory  of  the  Ameri- 
can people,  when  my  earliest  instructions  were  received.  My  sen- 
timents and  sympathies  were  kindled  by  the  burning  arguments 
of  Grattan,  of  Curran,  of  Fitzgerald,  of  Macneven,  and  of  Emmett; 
and  the  poetry  that  engaged  me  first,  and  has  lingered  with  me 
longest,  was  the  national  airs  of  Ireland.     I  yielded  to  those 


IRELAND  AND  IRISHMEN.  495 

sentiments  and  sympathies  more  easily,  because,  however  others 
might  boast  of  a  pure  English  descent,  I  was  obliged  to  confess, 
if  it  were  a  cause  of  shame,  that  more  than  one  stream  from  the 
Celtic  spring  had  commingled  with  the  current  of  my  Saxon 
blood.  We  are  accustomed  in  early  life  to  suppose  that  the 
opinions  we  approve  are  universally  accepted.  Long  years  oc- 
curred, before  I  dreamed  that  mine  were  at  all  peculiar.  But 
when  I  ventured  to  propose  that  obstructions  to  the  incorporation 
of  immigrants  in  our  community,  and  the  education  of  their  chil- 
dren, should  be  removed,  and  that  free  toleration  of  their  peculiar 
creeds  and  instruction  should  be  exercised,  I  found  that  the  bias 
of  early  sentiments  had  brought  me  in  conflict  with  opinions  so 
deeply  cherished,  and  so  widely  prevalent,  that  many  of  my 
countrymen  felt  obliged  to  question  at  once  my  orthodoxy  as  a 
Protestant,  my  patriotism  as  an  American,  and  my  sincerity  as  a 
man.  Next  to  truth  and  knowledge,  I  love  peace  and  harmony 
with  my  fellow-men.  I  have,  therefore,  reconsidered  my  early 
impressions  with  candor,  during  a  repose  not  unfavorable  to  the 
performance  of  such  a  duty. 

Some  of  our  citizens  study  the  letter  rather  than  the  spirit  of 
our  constitution  and  laws.  What  they  find  the  constitution  and 
laws  tolerate,  they  regard  as  immutable ;  like  those  theologians 
who  pronounce  even  human  slavery  a  divine  institution,  because 
an  apostle  commanded  servants  to  be  obedient  to  their  masters. 
But  in  the  American  constitution  there  is,  as  in  Christianity,  a 
spirit  that  "  maketh  alive  again,"  whenever  the  letter  of  the  law 
"killeth"  any  virtuous  or  benevolent  principle  or  hope.  The 
principles  of  the  American  government  I  find,  indistinct  and  con- 
fused indeed,  but  nevertheless  perceptible,  in  the  philosophy  and 
polity  of  the  Grecian  republics.  From  that  source  I  see  the 
streams  descending  through  the  ages  of  Roman,  French,  Italian, 
German,  and  Saxon  ascendency,  sometimes  diverted,  often  ob- 
structed, and  more  than  once  disappearing  altogether,  under  the 
foundations  of  huge  fabrics  of  despotism,  but,  nevertheless,  again 
breaking  forth  and  flowing  onward,  until  they  find,  in  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  broad  and  enlarged  channels,  in  which 
they  move  onward  with  irresistible  power.  The  rights  asserted 
by  our  forefathers  were  not  peculiar  to  themselves  —  they  were 
the  common  rights  of  mankind.  The  basis  of  the  constitution 
was  laid  broader  by  far  than  the  superstructure  which  the  con- 


496  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

flicting  interests  and  prejudices  of  the  day  suffered  to  be  erected. 
Those  who  erected  that  superstructure,  foresaw  and  provided  for 
its  gradual  enlargement,  and  looked  forward  to  the  time  when 
the  same  foundations  would  receive  and  uphold  institutions  of 
republican  government  ample  for  the  whole  human  race.  The 
principles  thus  laid  down  were,  that  all  men  were  born  equal, 
and  had  indefeasible  and  inalienable  natural  rights,  to  erect, 
subvert,  and  modify  governments  at  their  pleasure — that  the 
right  of  personal  freedom  was  inviolable  —  that  the  whole  earth 
was  the  heritage  of  man,  and  every  accessible  part  of  it  was  free 
to  his  footsteps ;  and,  that  wherever,  in  the  providence  of  Godr 
he  was  born,  or  might  be  led,  and  into  whatsoever  rank  or  con- 
dition he  might  fall,  there  he  of  right  was,  and  ought  to  be  a 
member  of  the  civil  state,  and  entitled  to  free  and  equal  suffrage 
for  those  who  should  make,  and  for  those  who  should  execute 
the  laws ;  and  that  the  suffrage  was  a  condition  precedent  of  his 
obedience.  The  constitution  and  laws  of  the  federal  government 
did  not  practically  extend  these  principles  throughout  the  new 
system  of  government,  but  they  were  plainly  promulgated  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  Their  complete  development,  and 
reduction  to  practical  operation,  constitute  the  progress  which  all 
liberal  statesmen  desire  to  promote  ;  and  the  end  of  that  progress 
will  be  complete  political  equality  among  ourselves,  and  the 
extension  and  perfection  of  institutions  similar  to  our  own 
throughout  the  world. 

This  great  end,  however,  is  not  to  be  obtained  suddenly,  by 
enthusiasm  or  by  violence.  Providence  has  only  permitted  us 
to  reach  this,  like  every  other  human  good,  by  long  and  perse- 
vering efforts ;  and  the  efforts  which  are  most  successful  are 
such  as  tend  most  to  improve  ourselves,  and  to  produce  harmony 
and  peace  among  our  fellow-men.  Education  and  moral  and 
religious  instruction  are  always  incipient  means.  Thus  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  American  Revolution  seem  to  me,  if  it  be  not  irrev- 
erent so  to  speak,  destined,  certainly  but  gradually  and  through 
many  ages,  to  renovate  the  political  state  of  mankind,  as  the  gos- 
pel of  peace  is  certainly  and  gradually  renovating  their  moral 
and  social  condition.  Rather  I  might  say  that  this  political  ren- 
ovation is  a  new  and  further  development  of  the  Christian  sys- 
tem, by  the  introduction  of  the  golden  rule  of  benevolence  in  tiiG 
science  of  human  government. 


IRELAND  AND  IRISHMEN.  497 

He  is  an  indifferent  observer  who  does  not  perceive  the  up- 
heavings  of  the  principles  I  have  described  in  every  part  at  least 
of  the  civilized  world.  Here  they  are  moving  continually  to  a 
more  complete  equality  of  suffrage,  to  universal  education,  and 
to  the  abolition  of  slavery.  They  are  moving  in  England  to  the 
reduction  of  the  aristocracy ;  in  Scotland  to  the  emancipation  of 
the  church ;  in  Ireland  to  domestic  legislation,  responsible  to  the 
people ;  and  in  France  and  Germany,  and  throughout  western 
Europe,  to  the  abridgment  of  executive  power  and  the  enfran- 
chisement of  the  masses.  This  progress  is  very  unequal,  but  it 
is  nevertheless  certain  and  irresistible.  Everywhere  its  origin  is 
traced  to  the  United  States,  though  it  might  in  truth  be  derived 
from  a  period  long  anterior  to  their  existence.  The  immigration 
of  near  one  hundred  thousand  persons  annually  is  a  singular 
manifestation  of  the  more  prevalent  passion  for  the  enjoyment  of 
liberty.  The  human  mind  naturally  and  justly  associates  ideas 
of  prosperity  and  happiness  with  that  of  free  government ;  and 
mankind  universally  venerate  the  seat  whence  beneficent  instruc- 
tions or  laws  proceed.  The  Israelite  of  the  ancient  covenant,, 
wherever  he  might  sojourn,  whether  free  among  the  petty  states 
that  surrounded  his  own  beloved  land,  or  lamenting  his  captivity 
in  Babylon,  never  kneeled  to  the  one  God  of  his  fathers  without 
turning  his  face  toward  Jerusalem.  The  Christians  of  the  middle 
ages  deemed  themselves  unworthy  soldiers  of  the  cross,  until 
they  should  rescue  the  holy  sepulchre  from  the  infidels.  The 
follower  of  Islam  prostrates  himself  three  times  a-day  with  his 
face  turned  toward  the  city  of  the  prophet,  and  the  remnant  of  the 
chosen  people  now  dispersed  among  all  nations  are  still  preserved 
in  their  unity  and  identity,  by  the  common  hope  of  returning  to 
Jerusalem  to  rebuild  the  sanctuary  of  their  fathers. 

I  greatly  fear  that  the  American  people  do  not  know  how 
highly  they  are  respected  and  venerated  by  the  down-trodden 
masses  of  Europe.  Some  among  us  are  ambitious  of  the  favor- 
able judgment  of  the  privileged  classes  in  the  old  world,  their 
respect  and  sympathies  are  not  to  be  expected.  We  are  disturb- 
ers, innovators ;  and  the  affection  we  gain  in  Europe  must  pro- 
ceed from  those  to  whom  the  progress  of  democratic  principles- 
brings  hope  not  terror.  To  the  oppressed  masses  in  France,  in 
Greece,  in  Poland,  in  Italy,  in  England,  and  Ireland,  the  United 
States  of  America  is  the  Palestine  from  which  comes  a  revelation 

Vol.  III.— 32 


498  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

effectual  to  political  salvation.  Thence,  therefore,  come  pilgrims 
of  hope,  ardent  and  enthusiastic  in  the  faith  they  have  received 
from  us,  and  they  expect  naturally  and  justly  to  be  received  and 
welcomed  as  brethren.  Strange  that  any  native  American  citi- 
zen should  repel  those  pilgrims,  and  justly  sad  is  their  disappoint- 
ment when  repulsed.  Not  even  the  Christian  knights  who 
penetrated  to  the  Holy  City  by  crusade  were  more  grieved  when 
they  discovered  that  the  Christians  of  Jerusalem  had  relapsed 
into  the  superstition  of  the  Moslem  faith,  and  forgotten  the  place 
of  the  tomb  in  which  the  Savior  had  reposed. 

So,  too,  when  a  revolution  occurs  in  Europe,  whether  tempes- 
tuous and  convulsive  like  those  in  France,  Greece,  and  Poland, 
or  moral  and  pacific  like  that  in  your  own  native  land,  the  up- 
rising masses  turn  at  once  to  the  United  States  of  America  for 
succor  and  for  support ;  and  such  is  the  mysterious  fellowship 
produced  by  the  love  of  liberty,  that  the  sympathies  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  have  always  been  found  irrepressible.  Ought  it  to  be 
otherwise  ?  Who  would  not  blush  for  his  country  if  it  were  not 
so  ?  The  spirit  of  freedom,  like  that  of  Christianity,  is  expansive 
and  comprehensive.  The  church  that  sends  forth  no  missionaries, 
need  take  heed,  for  its  light  is  ab<3ut  to  be  darkened.  The  repub- 
lic that  desires  no  proselytes,  must  take  warning,  for  its  downfall 
is  at  hand. 

These  sentiments,  derived,  I  trust,  from  the  teachings  of  the 
American  Revolution,  seem  to  me  as  wise  as  they  are  generous. 
If  there  be  any  petition  which  mankind  might  wish  added  to  the 
formula  given  by  the  Savior,  it  would  be  that  the  scourge  of  war 
might  cease,  and  that  peace  and  good  will  might  prevail  among 
men.  But  peace  and  good  will  can  never  prevail  until  mankind 
learn  and  feel  the  simple  truth,  that  however  birth  or  language 
or  climate  may  have  made  them  differ — however  mountains, 
deserts,  rivers,  and  seas,  may  divide  states  —  the  nations  of  the 
earth  are  nevertheless  one  family,  and  all  mankind  are  brethren, 
practically  equal  in  endowments,  equal  in  natural  and  political 
rights,  and  equal  in  the  favor  of  the  common  Creator. 

Exclusion  of  foreigners  and  hostility  to  foreign  states  always 
were  elements  of  barbarism.  The  intermingling  of  races  always 
was,  and  always  will  be,  the  chief  element  of  civilization.  Japan 
and  China  are  exclusive  states.  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  are  social  nations.     So  inconsistent  is  exclusiveness  with 


IRELAND  AND  IRISHMEN.  499 

progress,  that,  sooner  or  later,  Providence  wills  the  subjugation 
of  unsocial  states,  thus  securing  the  advancement  of  civilization 
compulsively,  when  nations  obstinately  resist  it.  The  conquest 
of  Mexico  in  the  west,  of  India  in  the  east,  and  the  present  hu- 
miliation of  China,  are  illustrations  of  this  great  truth. 

If  at  St.  Petersburg  you  seek  the  exchange,  where  the  Russian 
"  merchants  most  do  congregate,"  the  native  understands  not 
your  inquiry,  until  you  ask  for  the  "  Dutch"  exchange.  Thus  do 
the  subjects  of  the  czar  unwittingly  perpetuate  the  memory  of 
the  fact  that  they  owe  their  rising  commerce  to  immigration 
from  the  Netherlands.  I  remember  that  in  Clinton's  time  the 
Erie  canal  then  in  progress  was  stigmatized  as  the  "  Irish  ditch." 
Had  we  been  as  generous  as  the  natives  of  St.  Petersburg,  we 
should  have  persevered  in  that  designation,  and  we  should  now 
confess  for  the  instruction  of  mankind,  that  not  only  the  Erie 
canal,  but  its  numerous  and  far-reaching  veins  and  arteries,  and 
onr  railroads,  harbors,  and  fortifications,  were  chiefly  constructed 
by  hardy,  joyous,  light-hearted,  liberty-loving  immigrants  from 
Ireland. 

We  emulate  the  sway  of  ancient  Rome  ;  but  Rome  was  wiser 
than  those  who  affect  an  exclusive  monopoly  of  American  citizen- 
ship. Provinces  and  nations  as  soon  as  subjugated,  became  parts 
of  the  Roman  empire,  and  although  its  eagles  threatened  conquest 
wherever  they  advanced,  they  nevertheless  bore  on  their  wings 
charters  of  Roman  citizenship. 

Love  for  their  native  land  is  common  to  all  men,  but  it  ex- 
ceeds its  just  bounds  when  it  leads  men  to  despise  or  hate  their 
fellow-men.  This  excess  is  the  prejudice  of  ignorance.  The 
native  American  can  not  half  so  heartily  despise  the  Irishman, 
as  the  Chinese  despises  the  American.  He  who  has  left  his 
native  land  to  seek  an  asylum  here,  has  made  a  sacrifice  to 
liberty  which  ought  to  commend  him  to  our  respect  and  affec- 
tion. His  children  born  here  will  be  native  Americans  as  we 
are  ;  the  parent  is  a  foreigner  only  as  our  own  parents  or  ances- 
tors, near  or  remote,  also  were. 

Do  we  excel,  because  the  foreigner  can  not  speak  our  language 
"We  can  not  speak  his.     It  were  well  if  each  knew  the  language 
of  the  other,  for  it  is  stored  with  treasures  which  would  add  im- 
measurably to  his  knowledge  and  the  elements  of  his  happiness. 

The  battle-cry  of  liberty  is  as  animating  when  sounded  in 


500  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE 

French,  in  German,  or  in  Spanish,  as  in  English,  and  the  accents 
of  love  and  affection  are  tender  in  whatever  dialect  they  may 
have  utterance.  Should  differences  of  religious  belief  divide  us? 
Washington  invoked  the  Divine  blessing  on  our  army  in  a  prot- 
estant  ritual  —  Lafayette  employed  the  Roman  formulary.  Would 
the  prayers  of  either  have  been  answered,  if  they  had  carried  into 
council  quarrels  from  the  altar  ?  We  ought  never  to  forget  that, 
various  as  are  the  expositions  of  our  holy  faith,  they  all  agree  in 
this,  that  without  charity  there  is  no  Christianity. 

Such,  gentlemen,  are  my  sentiments.  If  I  indulge  more  en- 
thusiasm in  regard  to  Daniel  O'Connell  than  many  of  my  coun- 
trymen, it  is  because  more  truly  than  any  man  in  Europe  he  is 
an  apostle  of  these  sentiments  in  all  their  length  and  breadth.  If 
I  cherish  deeper  sympathies  with  the  people  of  Ireland,  it  is  be- 
cause they  are  more  imbued  than  any  other  European  people 
with  the  same  sentiments,  and  because  Irishmen  are  grievously 
wronged  here  and  intolerably  oppressed  in  their  native  land. 

I  ask  not  how  far  such  sympathies  and  affections  are  popular. 
My  political  faith  is  an  active  one,  and  wo  is  me  if  I  preach  it  not 
when  the  welfare  of  my  fellow-men  demands  the  exposition.  Be 
assured  then,  that  in  summer  and  in  winter,  at  home  and  abroad, 
in  the  political  arena  and  in  the  domestic  circle,  in  the  church 
and  in  the  state,  in  favor  and  reproach  —  whether  I  receive 
smiles  or  stripes  for  it — living  and  dying — I  shall  ever  remain 
the  faithful  friend  of  Ireland  and  of  Irishmen. 


BARBECUE  AT  CHERRY  VALLEY.  501 


BARBECUE  AT  CHERRY  YALLEY. 

Auburn,  June  *7,  1844. 

To  James  Brackett,  Esq.,  and  others: 

Gentlemen  :  Severe  indisposition  has  prevented  my  earlier  ac- 
knowledgment of  your  very  kind  invitation  for  the  27th  instant, 
and  now  inflexible  engagements  prevent  its  acceptance. 

Since  this  is  so,  I  will  frankly  confess  to  you  why  the  circum- 
stance is  unattended  by  regret.  When  I  assumed  a  public  trust 
at  Albany,  the  political  sentiments  and  principles  I  entertained 
were  chiefly  such  as  entered  into  the  creed  of  that  large  portion 
of  my  fellow-citizens  who  claimed  to  be  disciples  of  the  demo- 
cratic fathers  of  the  country.  Every  important  measure  wThich 
my  judgment  approved,  had,  at  some  recent  period,  received  the 
support  of  the  same  party,  and  formed  a  part  of  the  policy  of  the 
administration  of  some  of  my  distinguished  predecessors.  I  reck- 
oned, therefore,  upon  a  term  of  public  service  that,  if  it  should 
not  be  useful,  would  at  least  be  calm  and  tranquil.  Yet  such 
was  the  general  commotion  of  political  elements,  that  from  the 
first,  the  whig  administration  encountered  a  vehemence  of  oppo- 
sition almost  unparalleled,  and  I  was  buffeted  by  storms  that  have 
scarcely  yet  subsided,  although  I  have  been  almost  two  years  in 
the  quiet  haven  of  private  life. 

The  anniversary  of  our  national  independence  in  1840  found 
me  seeking  some  place  where  my  presence  would  not  provoke 
unkindness,  or  disturb  the  becoming  solemnities  of  that  interest- 
ing occasion.  An  invitation  from  your  village  announced  the 
purpose  of  its  citizens  to  honor  the  memory  of  their  forefathers 
by  celebrating  oh  the  same  day  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the 
plantation  of  Cherry  Yalley.  I  accepted  the  invitation,  because 
I  believed  that,  under  those  circumstances,  there,  if  anywhere, 

Note. — This  letter  was  addressed  by  Governor  Seward  to  the  whigs  of  Cherry  Val- 
ley, in  answer  to  their  invitation  to  attend  a  barbecue  on  the  27th  of  June,  1844. 


502  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE. 

party  animosities  would  for  a  day  be  hushed  into  profound  re- 
pose. My  visit  was  afterward  extended  to  Cooperstown,  the  cap- 
ital of  your  rich  and  beautiful  county.  The  memory  of  the  gen- 
erous hospitalities  of  the  people  of  Otsego,  of  all  parties,  and  of 
all  sects,  and  of  all  conditions,  on  that  occasion,  is  cherished 
among  the  fondest  remembrances  of  my  whole  life.  The  long 
processions ;  the  oration  of  William  TV*.  Campbell,  a  gifted  de- 
scendant of  one  of  the  founders  of  Cherry  Valley,  rich  in  affect- 
ing domestic  reminiscences  and  historical  instructions ;  the  pater- 
nal greetings  of  your  ancient  pastor,  the  Rev.  Dr.  "Nott,  bestowed 
on  the  survivors  of  his  flock;  the  temperate  but  joyous  repast 
under  a  rustic  bower;  the  cordial  greeting  of  the  people,  and 
their  hearty  responses  to  my  unstudied  speech  ;*  the  cavalcade 
that  attended  me  to  Cooperstown,  and  on  my  descent  to  the  val- 
ley of  the  Mohawk;  the  mimic  voyage  on  the  beautiful  lake; 
the  scenes  of  the  adventures  of  the  "  pioneers"  of  Cooperstown, 
illustrated  by  the  renowned  proprietor  of  the  "Hall;"  the  visits 
to  the  various  houses  of  Christian  worship ;  my  hospitable  enter- 
tainment by  distinguished  citizens  in  several  villages ;  and  the 
varied  festivities  that  effaced  for  the  time  the  memory  of  public 
cares  and  duties  —  all  these  are  indelibly  impressed  upon  my 
memory :  and  the  hills  and  valleys  of  Otsego  are  never  recalled 
by  me  but  as  scenes  luxuriant  in  fertility,  gladdened  by  the  ripen- 
ing influences  of  a  midsummer  sun,  and  abounding  in  all  the  ele- 
ments of  social  happiness. 

There  was  no  voice  or  memory  of  politics  on  that  occasion,  and 
the  people  of  Otsego  are  unknown  to  me  as  politicians.  I  would 
not  efface  these  impressions.  I  desire  that  there  may  be  one 
community  that  I  may  remember  in  all  after-life  as  free  from  the 
political  acrimony  which  often  poisons  the  springs  of  hospitality 
and  friendship.  I  admit  my  obligations  to  bear  my  full  part  in 
the  political  discussions  of  the  day,  although  I  am  removed  be- 
yond the  incentives  of  personal  ambition.  But  the  state  is  a 
broader  field  than  I  could  traverse  if  I  should  devote  myself  ex- 
clusively to  political  agitation.  Let  others,  then,  labor  in  Otsego 
county,  and  let  me  perform  my  share  of  political  service  where, 
in  spite  of  kinder  affections,  I  am  known  only  as  a  politician,  or 
at  least  where  I  am  not  under  obligations  for  unrequited  hospi- 
tality.    Let  me  cherish  still  longer,  and  long  as  I  live,  the  recol- 

*  See  page  224. 


PRISON  DISCIPLINE.  503 

lection  of  the  one  green  spot  in  the  state  of  New  York,  where, 
when  my  character  was  most  misrepresented  and  most  misappre- 
hended, amid  the  excitement  of  the  most  exciting  of  political 
occasions  the  country  ever  has  known,  I  was  received  not  only 
with  the  kindness,  candor,  and  respect,  due  to  the  office  I  bore, 
but  with  a  magnanimity  beyond  my  merits  as  a  man,  as  a  citizen, 
and  as  a  magistrate. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  very  sincerely,  your  friend  and  humble  ser- 
vant. 


PKISON   DISCIPLINE. 


Auburx,  December  14,  184G. 

To  the  Committee  of  the  Prison  Association  of  New  York  : 

Gentlemen  :  You  natter  me  by  inviting  me  to  instruct  you  on 
the  anniversary  of  your  association.  I  am  only  a  pupil  of  your 
own.  If  I  should  suggest  anything,  it  would  be  that  you  olo  not 
let  the  reform  of  prisons  lose  the  just  and  necessary  air]  of  the 
state,  by  being  separated  from  kindred  reforms.  The  great  phi- 
lolopher"who  wrote  on  the  advancement  of  learning,  said  :  "  Let 
it  be  a  rule  that  all  partitions  of  knowledge  be  accepted  rather 
for  lines  and  veins  than  for  sections  and  separations ;  and  that 
the  continuance  and  entireness  of  knowledge  be  preserved."  So 
it  must  be  with  all  the  enterprises  of  the  age  for  meliorating  the 
condition  of  society.  "These  things  ought  ye  to  have  done,  and 
not  to  have  left  the  other  undone,"  is  an  instruction  as  just  in 
politics  as  it  is  in  religion. 

You  ask  me,  gentlemen,  to  cheer  and  encourage  you.  Such 
encouragement  can  only  be  derived  from  the  inflexible  purpose 
of  doing  good  amid  much  unavoidable  misapprehension  and  re- 
proach. For  there__is  nothing  immediately  attractive  to  society_ 
in  sympathy  for  offenders  who  have  endangered  its  safety jmiL. 
disturbed  its  peace.  Humanity  to  convicts  is  eminently  conser- 
vative in  its  operation.  But  no  man  can  invoke  humanity  for 
the  convict  without  being  suspected  of  a  bad  ambition,  and  no 
man  can  alleviate  the  punishment  of  the  criminal  without  draw- 
ing upon  himself  the  anger  of  those  who  derive  personal  satis- 
faction from  the  inflictions  of  social  justice.     Our  holy  religion 


504  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE 

makes  no  distinction  among  the  prisoners  whom  it  enjoins  us  to 
visit.  Your  experience  has  taught  you  that  those  ministrations 
"bless  those  that  render  them  even  more  than  those  who  receive 
them,  and  you  are  sure  of  ultimate  vindication. 

An  Oglethorpe,  a  Howard,  and  a  Clarkson,  have  gained  im- 
mortal names  on  earth  in  labors  similar  to  yours  ;  and  Christi- 
anity is  a  fraud,  if  the  charity  which  believeth  all  things,  endu- 
reth  all  things,  hopeth  all  things,  and  withal  vaunteth  not  itself, 
can  not  open  the  gates  of  heaven. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  with  many  thanks  for  your  remembrance, 
your  obedient  servant. 


KOSSUTH. 

Washington,  December  15,  1851. 

To  Citizens  of  Philadelphia: 

Gentlemen  :  I  should  be  very  happy  if  it  were  in  my  power 
to  accept  your  courteous  invitation  to  the  feast  which  is  to  be 
given,  by  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  to  the  now  acknowledged 
nation's  guest.     But  my  engagements  here  forbid. 

Give  him,  gentlemen,  a  welcome  worthy  of  Philadelphia  to 
give,  worthy  of  Kossuth  to  receive  —  a  welcome  for  his  own  great 
military  and  greater  civic  deeds,  although  he  disclaims  them  — 
a  welcome  for  the  glorious  but  mournful  memories  of  his  far-off 
native  land,  although  she  can  not  lift  her  head  from  the  dust  to 
thank  you  for  it — a  welcome  for  his  indomitable  zeal  in  her  ser- 
vice, and  his  almost  spiritual  hopefulness  of  its  successful  results 
—  a  welcome  for  the  sake  of  our  own  country,  for  her  own  liber- 
ties will  be  in  danger  when  she  shall  have  forgotten  her  desire  to 
extend  them  to  other  nations  —  a  welcome  for  the  sake  of  our 
common  humanity,  for  when  shall  it  have  an  apostle  or  prophet 
worthy  of  being  honored,  if  he  shall  be  rejected? 

Suffer  him  with  his  fervid  eloquence  to  reanimate  his  fallen 
country,  and  to  wear  the  honors  and  the  powers  with  which  she 
so  wisely  and  justly  clothed  him;  and  then  consider  what  you 
can  do,  what  Congress  can  do,  and  what  the  American  people 
can  do,  to  restore  her  in  fact  to  her  position  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth.     Without  the  consent  and  clearly-expressed  will  of 


KOSSUTH.  505 

the  people,  Congress  can  do  nothing.  With  that  support,  I  trust 
that  some  measure  may  be  adopted  by  the  government,  which, 
while  it  will  not  at  all  hazard  the  peace  or  prosperity  of  the  coun- 
try, may  serve  to  promote  a  cause  that  appeals  so  strongly  to  our 
interests  and  our  sympathies,  viz.,  the  establishment  of  republi- 
canism, in  the  countries  prepared  for  it,  in  Europe. 

I  am,  gentlemen,  with  great  respect,  your  humble  servant. 


KOSSUTH. 

Senate  Chamber,  Washington,  December  17,   1851. 

To  The  New  York  Bar: 

Gentlemen  :  Your  letter,  inviting  me  to  attend  the  dinner  to 
be  given  by  the  bar  of  New  York  to  the  illustrious  European 
visiter,  has  been  received  this  morning;  and  my  answer,  in  order 
to  reach  you  seasonably,  must  be  despatched  immediately. 

I  rejoice  exceedingly  that  the  enlightened  and  independent  bar 
of  JSTew  York  have  made  a  movement  so  just  and  so  wise.  Where 
shall  the  cause  of  constitutional  government  ana  civil  liberty  look 
for  advocates,  if  not  to  the  members  of  the  legal  profession  in 
free  republican  countries  ? 

Gentlemen,  give  to  Kossuth  the  reception  he  deserves,  and 
which  you  so  well  know  how  to  give.  And  then,  I  pray  you,  to 
open  your  volumes  of  international  law.  Draw  from  them,  as  I 
am  sure  you  can,  the  precious  instruction  that  every  nation  may, 
and  every  nation  ought  to,  make  its  position  distinctly  known,  in 
every  case  of  conflict  between  despots  and  states  struggling  for 
the  inalienable  and  indefeasible  rights  of  independence  and  self- 
government  ;  that  when  despots  combine,  free  states  may  law- 
fully unite.  When  these  principles  shall  have  been  adopted  by 
the  American  people,  and  asserted  by  their  government,  it  will 
then  be  a  question  of  discretion  for  the  government  and  the  peo- 
ple on  what  occasions  and  in  what  way  they  shall  move,  when 
conflicts  shall  be  impending,  or  shall  have  actually  begun.  He 
who  doubts  the  wisdom  and  prudence  of  the  government  in  such 
emergencies,  distrusts  unnecessarily  the  capacity  of  the  Ameri- 
can people  to  sustain  their  own  republican  institutions. 


506  GENERAL  CORRESPONDENCE 

Accept,  gentlemen,  my  thanks  for  your  kind  remembrance  of 
me,  on  an  occasion  so  interesting,  and  believe  me,  with  great  re- 
spect, your  humble  servant. 


KOSSUTH. 

Washington,  January  12,  1852. 

To  the  Printers  of  Pittsburgh  : 

Gentlemen  :  Your  letter  of  the  10th  instant,  inviting  me  to  the 
festival  to  be  held  by  the  Pittsburgh  Typographical  Association 
in  honor  of  the  memory  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  has  been  received. 
The  invitation  is  rendered  more  attractive  by  the  circumstance 
that  the  illustrious  Hungarian  chief,  from  whom  I  have  just  now 
parted,  will  grace  the  occasion  with  his  august  presence. 

I  regret  deeply,  gentlemen,  that  public  and  private  cares  com- 
bine to  deprive  me  of  the  pleasure  you  have  thus  offered  me. 
My  imagination  suggests  at  once  the  parallel  which  I  trust  must 
occur  to  all  minds,  of  Franklin  in  1777  at  the  court  of  Versailles, 
soliciting  recognition  of  American  independence,  commercial  trea- 
ties, and  substantial  aid,  and  Louis  Kossuth  in  the  American  capi- 
tal, soliciting  similar  boons  for  his  country,  in  a  condition  appa- 
rently not  more  helpless  and  hopeless.  The  application  of  the 
former  resulted  not  less  auspiciously  for  America  than  for  man- 
kind. If  the  visit  of  the  latter  is  a  chimera,  a  delusion,  as  many 
think  it  is,  I  desire  to  hold  fast  upon  it  to  the  last.  I  would 
rather  be  deceived  in  a  generous  trust  in  the  justice  of  mankind, 
than  to  know  that  justice  and  the  love  of  civil  freedom  have 
ceased  to  animate  my  countrymen. 

Accept,  gentlemen,  my  cordial  thanks,  and  assurances  of  my 
distinguished  regard. 


LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 

In  the  summer  of  1833,  Mr.  Seward,  as  is  stated  elsewhere  made  a  hurried  tour 
through  Europe,  in  company  with  his  father,  then  an  invalid.  During  his  ahsence 
he  wrote  to  different  friends  at  home,  a  series  of  descriptive  letters.  The  editor  of 
the  "Albany  Evening  Journal,"  who  had  himself  been  favored  with  several  of  these 
letters,  prevailed  upon  Mr.  Seward  and  the  parties  to  whom  the  letters  were  addressed, 
to  permit  their  publication. 

After  about  forty  of  the  series  had  appeared,  their  publication  was  arrested  under 
-circumstances  which  can  not,  perhaps,  be  better  explained  than  by  inserting  the  follow- 
ing extract  from  the  Journal  of  that  date  : — 

"Letters  from  Europe. — In  reply  to  numerous  inquiries  for  these  letters,  it  is  proper 
to  say  that  their  publication  was  arrested  by  the  '  veto'  of  the  gentleman  who  wrote 
them.  It  is  already  known  to  some  of  our  readers  that  the  author  of  these  letters  is 
the  whig  oar  didate  for  governor.  They  were  hastily  written  to  several  of  his  intimate 
friends,  wnile  making  a  tour  upon  the  continent.  On  his  return,  the  friends  of  Mr. 
Seward  earnestly  desired  the  publication  of  these  letters  in  a  more  durable  form,  but 
this  was  declined.  After  much  importunity,  however,  he  yielded  a  reluctant  consent 
to  their  anonymous  publication  in  the  '  Evening  Journal.'  The  series,  thus  com- 
menced, were  continued,  contributing  to  the  interest  of  our  readers,  and  adding  new 
names  to  our  subscription,  until  the  whig  state  convention  placed  their  author  in  a 
new  relation  to  the  public;  when,  unwilling,  we  suppose,  to  superadd  to  other  offences 
the  heinous  one  of  writing  'Letters  from  Europe,'  he  desired  us  to  suspend  their  pub- 
lication. 

"  From  this  decision  of  the  author,  our  readers  have  appealed  to  the  editor.  Having 
read  a  portion  of  these  letters,  they  insist  upon  the  publication  of  the  entire  series. 
They  do  not,  nor  can  we  discover,  in  the  whig  nomination  for  governor,  a  sufficient 
reason  for  cutting  off  this  source  of  interest  and  instruction.  And  besides,  the  assent 
of  the  author,  to  the  publication  of  the  whole  series,  having  been  obtained  before  his 
nomination  for  governor,  we  insist  that  he  has  not  now  the  right  to  revoke  it. 

"Under  these  circumstances,  and  at  the  general  solicitation  of  our  readers,  we  take 
the  responsibility  of  resuming  the  publication  of  our  'Letters  from  Europe.'  It  is 
due,  however,  to  Mr.  Seward,  to  say,  that  they  were  written  solely  for  the  gratifica- 
tion of  his  own  family,  and  a  few  intimate  friends,  without  the  slightest  expectation 
that  they  would  ever  be  given  to  the  public.  If  any  of  his  political  opponents  should 
think  proper  to  find  fault  with  these  letters,  we  shall  respectfully  inquire  who  among 
them  possesses  the  industry  and  the  talent  to  have  travelled  through  England,  Ireland, 
Scotland,  Holland,  Switzerland,  Germany,  and  France,  within  a  period  of  less  than  three 
months,  and  produce  nearly  eighty  letters  (filling  upward  of  nine  hundred  manuscript 
pages)  of  equal  interest  and  intelligence?" 

The  limited  space  remaining  in  these  volumes  will  admit  of  only  a  small  number  of 
these  interesting  letters.  Those  which  have  found  a  place  were  selected  without 
much  discrimination,  and  have  probably  been  somewhat  marred  in  being  taken  from 
their  original  connection  as  well  as  by  their  necessary  abridgment  Two  of  them 
have  never  before  appeared  in  print. — Ed 


LETTERS   FROM  EUROPE. 


LETTER  I. 

LIVERPOOL ENGLISH   HOTEL THEATRE TOWN-HALL,    &C. 

Liverpool,  June  22,  1833. 

My  Dear  J :  You  will  recollect  having  told  me  to  send  you 

no  short  letters.  As  it  is  probable  my  earliest  letters  will  be  the 
longest,  because,  while  a  novice  in  travelling,  I  shall  find  more  nu- 
merous objects  which  seem  to  be  worth  description  than  when  I 
shall  have  become  acquainted  with  transatlantic  scenes  and  man- 
ners, I  dedicate  to  you  such  part  of  my  notes  as  relates  to  Liverpool- 

We  took  lodgings  at  the  Adelphi,  and  having  selected  our 
rooms,  went  immediately  to  attend  to  the  inspection  of  our  bag- 
gage at  the  customhouse.  We  found  the  office,  and  all  the  ways 
of  access  to  it,  filled  with  immense  quantities  of  the  baggage 
brought  by  two  packets  and  one  transient  ship  from  America. 
We  were  compelled  to  await  our  turn.  During  the  passage,  our 
Havana  merchant  had  generously  presented  to  one  of  the  passen- 
gers from  Philadelphia  a  box  of  fine  cigars.  The  box  was  seized 
by  the  customhouse  officers,  and  so  large  a  bill  of  duties  and 
charges  was  made,  that  the  donor  hesitated  whether  to  pay  the 
amount  or  leave  the  cigars.  Iu  coming  to  the  conclusion  to 
take  his  property,  I  believe  he  was  principally  determined  by  a 
sense  of  the  complaisance  due  to  his  Spanish  friend.  A  passen- 
ger who  arrived  in  another  ship  had  a  large  trunk,  filled  with 
new  and  well-selected  American  books :  these  passed,  without 
note  or  comment.      Immediately  afterward   a  person  entered, 


510  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE 

who,  it  was  whispered,  was  an  agent  sent  down  from  London  to 
detect  malpractices  at  Liverpool.  My  trunks  were  opened  in  his 
presence,  and  the  officers,  with  reluctance,  took  out  my  books, 
and  said  they  could  not  pass  without  a  clearance,  although  they 
were  not  a  fourth  part  as  numerous  as  those  of  the  other  travel- 
ler, and  were,  most  or  all  of  them,  small  books  of  my  own  library, 
brought  to  relieve  the  tediousness  of  the  voyage.  One  of  the 
officers  whispered  to  me,  to  look  over  them,  and  see  if  I  could 
not  find  some  English  books  among  them.  This,  of  course,  was 
impossible,  as  nobody  buys  English  books  in  America.  So  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  my  Shakspeare,  and  Burns,  and  Carter, 
and  Silliman,  thrown  into  the  scales  with  Mrs.  Trollope  and  Cap- 
tain Hall,  and  other  names  more  unknown  to  fame.  The  bill  of 
duties  and  charges  amounted  to  fourteen  shillings  sterling,  which 
I  paid,  taking  a  resolution,  that  at  the  next  inspection  I  would 
leave  Mrs.  Trollope  and  Captain  Hall  at  the  customhouse. 

We  visited  the  theatre  in  the  evening.  The  edifice,  the 
arrangements,  the  scenery,  and  the  performance,  were  all  inferior 
to  those  of  the  best  theatres  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and 
Boston.  I  must  except,  however,  the  star  of  the  night.  This 
was  Mr.  Power,  wTho  excels  any  actor  I  have  ever  seen  in  the 
performance  of  Irish  characters.  The  characters  he  represented 
were  Sir  Lucius  O 'Trigger  and  Teddy  the  Tiler.  He  seemed 
equally  happy  in  the  genteel  and  low  Irish  characters.  The  bill 
announced  that  this  was  his  last  engagement  before  going  to 
America,  so  you  will  soon  have  an  opportunity  to  judge  of  his 
merits  for  yourself.  At  the  theatre  we  met  almost  all  our  fellowr- 
passengers,  and  were  not  a  little  surprised  to  see  our  steward 
and  his  assistant,  both  colored  men,  in  the  box  opposite  to  us. 
Although  our  prejudices  revolted  at  the  association,  I  was  pleased 
with  the  evidence  that  in  England,  the  caste  of  men  is  not  deter- 
mined by  the  color  of  the  skin. 

On  Tuesday,  having  sent  our  letters  of  introduction,  we  com- 
menced the  grand  business  of  seeing  the  lions  of  the  town ;  but, 
before  descending  to  particulars,  it  will  be  better  to  give  you  my 
observations  upon  the  tout  ensemble  of  Liverpool.  The  situation 
of  the  town  has  nothing  imposing.  The  commercial  character  of 
its  population  is  indicated  by  the  modern  style  of  its  buildings, 
which  differ,  however,  from  those  in  New  York  in  their  appear- 
ance of  greater  solidity  and  in  their  less  cheerful  aspect.     They 


LIVERPOOL.  51.1 

are  composed  of  freestone,  or  of  very  hard,  dark-colored  bricks. 
You  see  very  little  of  external  ornament,  and  the  painted  wood- 
work which  is  so  often  seen  in  American  towns  is  unknown  here. 
The  only  house  I  have  seen  which  has  light  Yenetian  window- 
shutters  belongs  to  an  American.  In  every  part  of  the  city  are 
manufactories,  having  very  high  chimneys  constantly  emitting 
columns  of  dense  coal-smoke,  and  upon  all  the  hills  in  the  vicin- 
ity are  numerous  windmills.  The  display  of  goods  in  the  shop- 
windows  is  very  similar  to  what  you  see  in  Broadway,  though 
more  splendid.  The  streets  are  generally  narrow  and  irregular, 
and  the  coal-smoke,  in  a  very  humid  atmosphere,  gives  a  sombre 
color  to  the  most  magnificent  buildings.  The  aspect  of  the  pop- 
ulation is  not  different  from  that  of  New  York,  except  the  great 
number  of  females  employed  in  servile  and  laborious  occupations, 
and  the  greater  number  of  liveried  servants.  Liverpool,  you 
know,  is  a  very  ancient  town :  it  was  fortified  by  the  common- 
wealth against  Prince  Rupert,  nephew  to  King  Charles  L,  and, 
for  a  long  period  antecedent  to  that  time,  was  the  seat  of  the 
earls  of  Derby  and  Stafford.  But  it  acquired  no  great  commer- 
cial importance  until  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  when  its 
merchants  perceived  the  great  advantages  of  their  location  in 
reference  to  Manchester,  whose  manufactures  were  now  becoming 
greatly  extended.  To  this  branch  of  trade  was  added  the  unholy 
traffic  in  slaves.  The  former  still  continues  to  add  to  the  wealth 
and  importance  of  Liverpool.  As  Liverpool  began  to  nourish  at 
about  the  same  time,  and  for  a  considerable  period  continued 
pari  passu  with  New  York,  the  Liverpool  merchants  anticipated 
that  the  two  cities  would  acquire  equal  importance  in  reference 
to  the  countries  in  which  they  were  located.  But  more  recently 
they  have  been  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  there  must  be 
limits  to  the  extent  of  the  one,  while  the  other  has  as  yet  but 
commenced  an  apparently  interminable  career  of  prosperity. 

The  most  magnificent  public  building  in  Liverpool  is  the  town- 
hall :  it  is  of  the  Corinthian  order,  and  is  of  quadrangular  form, 
having  a  rustic  basement  on  which  are  placed  a  range  of  columns 
and  pilasters  ;  on' three  sides,  the  spaces  between  the  capitals  of 
the  columns  are  adorned  with  bas-reliefs,  illustrative  of  the  com- 
mercial character  of  the  town.  A  dome,  which  rises  to  the  height 
of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  foundation,  and  is  in 
perfect  proportion,  surmounts  the  edifice.     On  the  summit  of  the 


512  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

dome  is  the  statue  of  Britannia.  The  greater  part  of  this  immense 
edifice,  the  pride  of  Liverpool,  is,  according  to  our  republican 
notions,  appropriated  to  very  unimportant  uses ;  the  whole  base- 
ment story  is  used  for  culinary  purposes ;  the  ground  story  con- 
tains a  few  offices  for  the  mayor  and  committees  of  the  corpora- 
tion. The  third  story  contains  a  magnificent  suite  of  rooms  for 
public  entertainments.  These  apartments  are  shown  to  the  vis- 
iter, who  ascends  through  the  grand  staircase  which  is  adorned 
by  a  very  excellent  statue  of  Canning,  executed  by  Chantrey. 
Mr.  Canning  represented  the  town  in  parliament.  You  will  not 
expect  me  to  describe  the  splendid  apartments.  It  is  sufficient 
to  say,  that  in  magnificence  they  correspond  with  the  grandeur 
of  the  exterior  of  the  edifice.  The  saloon  contains  full-length 
portraits  of  William  IV.,  taken  before  his  ascent  to  the  throne 
by  Shee  ;  of  George  III.,  by  Sir  Thomas  Lawrence  ;  of  George 
IV.,  when  prince  of  Wales,  by  Hopner;  and  of  the  late  duke  of 
York,  by  Phillips.  The  portrait  of  George  IV.,  if  I  may  judge 
from  other  pictures  I  have  seen,  is  a  miserable  likeness.  Per- 
haps it  was  the  greater  celebrity  of  the  artist,  which  caused  me 
to  think  that  of  George  III.  superior  to  all  the  others.  After 
admiring  the  magnificence  of  the  interior,  we  ascended  to  the 
gallery  which  surrounds  the  dome,  whence  there  is,  when  the 
atmosphere  is  clear,  a  fine  view  of  the  town  and  its  environs. 
The  view  embraces  in  the  east  Everton  and  Edge  hill ;  in  the  west 
the  course  of  the  river  Mersey  to  its  source,  and  in  the  north  the 
mouth  of  the  river  and  the  Irish  channel.  The  town  exhibits 
nothing  particularly  interesting,  but  the  luxuriance  of  the  adja- 
cent country  renders  the  prospect  most  beautiful.  Beyond  the 
villages  of  Woodside  and  Birkenhead,  the  western  prospect  is 
bounded  by  the  lofty  hills  of  Penmanmaur. 

Our  next  visit  was  to  the  exchange.  This  edifice  is  built  on 
the  three  sides  of  an  area  immediately  behind  the  town-hall.  It 
has  three  facades,  the  east  and  west  facing  each  other,  and  the 
northern  corresponding  to  the  northern  side  of  the  town-hall. 
The  facades  consist  of  a  basement  supporting  Corinthian  col- 
umns and  capitals,  with  an  entablature  and  balustrade,  present- 
ing appropriate  figures  emblematic  of  commerce.  The  centre 
of  the  area  is  adorned  with  a  bronze  monument  in  honor  of  Lord 
Nelson.  Upon  the  basement  or  pedestal  is  the  figure  of  Nelson, 
receiving  upon  his  sword  a  fourth  laurel  from  the  hand  of  Vic- 


LIVERPOOL.  513 

tory.  The  figure  of  Death,  half-concealed  by  the  enemy's  flag, 
is  seen  aiming  the  mortal  blow :  a  sailor  grasps  a  battle-axe  tc 
revenge  the  death  of  the  hero ;  and  Britannia,  leaning  on  her 
spear,  laments  the  loss  of  the  veteran.  At  the  angles  of  the 
pedestal  are  captives  in  chains,  and  upon  each  side  Nelson's 
memorable  words :  "  England  expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty." 
The  figures  of  the  captives  are  admirably  executed.  As  for  the 
other  parts  of  the  monument,  the  design  is  so  confused  that  I 
did  not  regard  them  with  pleasure.  I  have  yet  to  learn  to  ap- 
preciate the  beauties  of  works  of  this  kind,  in  which  heathen 
divinities  and  mortal  men  are  brought  into  so  close  juxtaposition. 
The  idea  of  the  sailor  seizing  a  battle-axe  to  retaliate  a  blow 
inflicted,  not  by  a  human  arm,  but  by  the  grim  king  of  terrors, 
is  absurd.  Such  incongruities  may  pass  in  poetry,  and  possibly 
in  painting,  but  their  occurrence  in  statuary  deprives  the  work 
of  all  semblance  of  truth. 

We  visited  also  the  Athenceu?n,  an  institution  founded  by  an 
association  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  shareholders,  each  of  whom 
originally  subscribed  ten  guineas,  and  pays  two  and  a  half 
guineas  annually.  In  the  lower  story  is  a  spacious  reading-room, 
where  is  found  a  very  extensive  collection  of  newspapers  of  all 
countries.  I  found  in  several  of  the  English  papers  malicious 
attacks  upon  the  American  institutions  and  character.  Just 
before  leaving  New  York,  I  read,  in  an  Albany  newspaper,  an 
article  extracted  from  the  Ithaca  Journal,  in  which  a  Mr.  Seely 
gave  an  account  of  a  singular  snake,  which  he  saw.  cut  into  three 
distinct  parts  by  the  falling  of  a  tree  upon  it,  and  yet,  strange  to 
relate,  in  a  few  hours  afterward  the  same  animal  collected  and 
adjusted  together  its  three  divisions,  and  was  taken  home  by  Mr, 
Seely  aforesaid  to  his  house,  where  at  the  date  it  remained  still 
living  —  exhibiting,  however,  marks  where  the  disjunction  had 
taken  place !  The  whole  story  was  so  well  told,  and  so  fortified 
upon  all  points  where  incredulity  might  attack  it,  and  was  withal 
so  well  guarantied  by  the  signature  of  the  said  Mr.  Seely,  and 
his  references  to  his  neighbors  who  were  eye-witnesses,  that  the- 
Albany  editor  republished  it  with  the  only  comment  that  the  sin- 
gular story  seemed  to  be  well  authenticated.  In  a  London  jour- 
nal I  found  the  same  article  introduced  as  the  proof  to  sustain  the 
proposition  that  the  Americans,  for  lack  of  genuine  wit,  resort  to 
/  the  fabrication  of  the  most  improbable  tales,  and  are  really  suc- 
Yol.  III.  — 33 


514  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

cessful  in  that  kind  of  Munchausen  invention.  I  wonder  if  some 
•>f  the  works  of  Dean  Swift,  on  the  same  principle,  would  not  con- 
vict his  countrymen  of  the  same  crime. 

The  library  of  the  Athenseum  is  well  selected,  and  contains 
about  twenty  thousand  volumes,  many  of  which  are  rare  and  val- 
uable. I  was  much  interested  in  reading  a  British  magazine  co- 
temporary  with  the  war  of  the  American  Revolution.  It  was 
curious  to  mark  the  different  manner  in  which  the  same  events 
were  described  and  the  same  individuals  mentioned,  in  this  work 
and  in  the  whig  papers  published  at  the  same  time  in  America. 
One  could  not  but  smile,  in  reading  the  description  of  the  rebel 
Congress,  and  the  contemptuous  reference  of  all  the  difficulties 
in  which  the  empire  was  involved  to  the  agitation  of  &  few  lead- 
ers, among  whom  John  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams  were  dis- 
tinguished  as  the  most  unprincipled.  It  is  thus,  however,  in  all 
political  movements,  whether  they  attain  the  magnitude  of  revo- 
lutions, or  are  confined  to  a  mere  change  of  men  or  manners. 
The  party  in  power  represent  the  reformers  as  unprincipled  agi- 
tators. Success  crowns  rebellion,  and  failure  even  in  desirable 
reforms  leaves  its  advocates  too  often  to  unsparing  censure.  We 
found  several  works  of  Dr.  Hosack  upon  the  shelves  of  the 
library. 

The  corporation  of  Liverpool  is  one  among  many  strange  anom- 
alies yet  remaining  in  England.  The  corporation  is  what  is  called 
a  close  one ;  that  is  to  say,  the  members  fill  all  vacancies  which 
occur  in  the  corporate  body  :  so  that  all  the  patronage  and  inter- 
ests of  this  great  commercial  city  are  continued  perpetually  under 
the  control  of  some  twenty  or  thirty  individuals,  holding  their 
offices  in  perpetuity.  The  mayor  is  elected  by  the  freemen  of 
the  town;  but  he  must  be  selected  from  among  the  members  of 
the  corporation.  When  I  learned  these  particulars,  I  was  no 
longer  surprised  at  the  epicurean  luxury  displayed  in  the  suite 
of  rooms  in  the  town-ball. 

Another  anomaly  which  the  stranger  will  remark  is  the  jum- 
bling together  of  church  and  state  affairs.  Upon  a  church-door 
was  a  notice  to  all  who  claimed  to  be  freemen  of  the  borough,  to 
register  their  names  and  prove  their  qualifications  before  a  cer- 
tain day,  preparatory  to  an  election  of  a  member  of  parliament. 
This  notice  was  signed  by  the  church-wardens  of  the  parish. 

I  remarked  a  difference  in  the  dress  of  different  bodies  of  the 


CHESTER.  •  515 

police.  A  friend  explained  to  me  that  the  one  was  the  corpora- 
tion-guard ;  a  second  the  parish-guard,  supported  by  the  vestry 
of  the  church ;  and  a  third  the  dock-guard,  maintained  by  the 
dock-corporation.  All,  however,  have  equal  and  similar  duties. 
I  shall  hereafter  never  be  inclined  to  doubt  the  loyalty  of  the 
English  nation.  They  seem  to  be  enamored  of  their  aristocracy. 
Where  among  our  countrymen  a  ship,  an  hotel,  or  a  street,  would 
bear  some  name  expressive  of  the  freedom  or  equality  of  the  peo- 
ple, the  English  with  equal  ostentation  parade  the  names  of  the 
dukes,  earls,  and  gentlemen,  of  the  aristocracy.  The  maufacturer 
and  the  shopkeeper  are  most  happy  if  permitted  to  display  over 
their  doors  the  words  "  Manufacturers  to  His  Majesty,"  or  "  By 
special  letters  licensed  to  make  razors  for  the  Duke  of  Cumber- 
land," &c. 


LETTEE   II. 

CHESTER — THE   CATHEDRAL,    &C. 


Chester,  June  24,  1833. 

My  Dear  L :  For  the  first  time  in  my  life  I  find  myself 

surrounded  by  the  interesting  monuments  of  ages  so  long  passed 
away,  that  men  read  their  history  without  party  or  political  bias. 
I  recollect  your  opinion,  expressed  in  a  conversation  not  long 
before  my  departure,  that  such  scenes  are  those  which  must  be 
most  gratifying  to  the  tourist.  Perhaps  I  can  not  do  better  than 
to  choose  for  the  subject  of  the  first  letter  I  promised  you,  my 
visit  to  Chester. 

We  were  desirous  to  witness  the  solemnities  of  religious  ser- 
vices in  the  cathedral  of  Chester,  and  for  that  purpose  left  Liver- 
pool yesterday  morning  (Sunday).  On  leaving  Liverpool,  we 
ascended  the  Mersey  seven  miles  to  Woodside,  in  a  small  steam- 
boat crowded  by  passengers  seeking  pure  air  and  green  fields  for 
the  enjoyment  of  Sunday. 

We  passed  through  an  ancient-looking  street  in  the  suburbs, 
and  entered  the  city  of  Chester  through  an  arched  gate.  Passing 
through  various  streets  of  antique  appearance  and  grotesque  con- 
struction, the  diligence  drove  under  an  arched  gateway  into  a 


516  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

court,  and  stopped  at  the  door  of  the  coach-office.  The  coach- 
man, who  was  a  large,  well-dressed  and  well-looking  man,  and 
might  have  passed  for  an  alderman,  having  received  his  shilling 
sterling  from  each  passenger,  gave  himself  no  further  trouble: 
the  porters  took  our  baggage,  and  the  hostlers  the  horses;  and 
the  passengers  separated  to  their  respective  destinations.  On  no 
account  will  an  English  coachman  set  you  down  at  an  hotel.  We 
took  lodgings  at  the  Red  Lion. 

Our  curiosity  to  examine  the  antiquities  of  this  interesting  city 
had  been  so  greatly  excited,  that  we  immediately  demanded  the 
way  to  the  cathedral.  After  crossing  the  street,  we  traversed  a 
circuitous  passage  not  more  than  five  feet  wide,  but  which  it  was 
evident  was  used  as  a  street,  and  in  a  few  minutes  stood  before 
the  immense  edifice.  Originally  the  name  of  city  was  bestowed 
only  upon  those  towns  which  were  honored  with  the  residence  of 
bishops,  and  the  name  of  cathedral  still  belongs  only  to  the  prin- 
cipal church  of  the  diocese.  Chester  has  been  a  bishop's  see 
from  a  very  remote  period.  It  is  said,  but  I  do  not  know  with 
what  authority,  that  a  temple  of  Apollo  once  stood  upon  the  spot 
now  occupied  by  the  cathedral.  It  seems  to  be  well  established, 
however,  that  there  existed  in  Chester,  in  the  ninth  century,  a 
monastery  dedicated  to  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul.  In  the  year  875, 
the  remains  of  St.  Werburgh,  daughter  of  Wulphen,  king  of 
Mercia,  were  removed  to  this  monastery,  to  preserve  them  from 
being  polluted  by  the  hands  of  the  Danish  invaders.  These  rel- 
ics, according  to  the  historian  of  the  monastery,  possessed  mirac- 
ulous power.  Among  other  "  wonderful  works,"  it  is  recorded 
that  the  whole  army  of  a  Welsh  king  were  struck  with  instant 
blindness  in  the  sacrilegious  attempt  to  disturb  the  ashes  of  the 
saint.  A  few  years  afterward,  the  ecclesiastical  establishment, 
with  the  sacred  dust,  was  removed  to  the  present  site  of  the  ca- 
thedral, and  a  monastery  was  erected  by  Ethelfleda,  countess  of 
Mercia,  and  dedicated  to  St.  Werburgh  and  St.  Oswald.  The 
present  cathedral  was  connected  with  the  monastery,  of  which 
only  the  ruins  now  remain.  It  was  commenced  in  the  eleventh 
century,  and  received  continued  additions  and  improvements  un- 
til the  sixteenth.  The  monastery  was  dissolved  in  the  general 
suppression  of  monasteries  and  convents  during  the  Reformation, 
in  the  sixteenth  century. 

The  cathedral  is  built  of  freestone,  which  does  not  well  resist 


CHESTER.  517 

the  operation  of  the  elements,  and  exhibits  the  effects  of  gradual 
decomposition.  The  structure  is  irregular,  and  of  Gothic  archi- 
tecture. The  length  from  east  to  west  is  three  hundred  and  forty- 
nine  feet,  the  width  is  seventy-five  feet,  and  the  height  of  the 
square  tower  in  the  centre  from  the  base  of  the  church  is  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty-seven  feet.  In  the  walls  are  innumerable  niches, 
originally  filled  with  small  statues  of  the  saints.  Many  of  these 
statues  have  fallen  ;  those  which  yet  remain  are  disfigured  and 
discolored,  as  is  the  whole  exterior  of  the  cathedral.  The  roof  is 
supported  by  immense  columns.  You  are  to  recollect,  in  order 
to  form  an  idea  of  the  interior,  that  in  the  ancient  churches  there 
were  no  galleries.  The  whole  interior,  with  the  exception  of  the 
choir  and  chapels,  is  unencumbered  with  divisions  or  partitions 
of  any  kind.  You  have  then  to  imagine  the  imposing  effect  pro- 
duced upon  our  minds  as  we  entered  this  immense  temple,  con- 
structed with  all  the  solidity  and  grandeur  which  distinguish  the 
Gothic  order. 

The  choir,  which  is  unknown  in  our  American  churches,  is 
that  part  of  the  church  containing  the  altar,  the  places  for  the 
priests,  and  the  seats  for  the  musicians  and  dignitaries  of  the 
church.  In  Protestant  churches,  the  choir  is  also  furnished  with 
seats  for  the  congregation.  In  Catholic  churches,  the  people  are 
excluded  from  the  choir.  From  this  description  you  are  not  to 
understand  that  the  choir  is  enclosed  by  partition-walls.  It  is 
enclosed  generally  by  iron  railings  with  gates,  so  that  it  rather 
forms  an  inner  court  than  a  separate  apartment.  The  choir  of 
the  cathedral  at  Chester  is  separated  from  the  main  part  of  the 
building  by  a  screen  of  beautiful  Gothic  construction,  enriched 
with  figures  of  saints. 

We  arrived  at  the  cathedral  a  few  minutes  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  afternoon  service.  The  service  of  the  estab- 
lished church  is  celebrated,  according  to  the  ritual  of  the  prayer- 
book,  every  morning  and  evening  during  the  year.  After  walk- 
ing through  the  area  of  the  cathedral,  we  entered  the  choir,  and 
one  of  the  attendants  showed  us  to  a  pew  which  we  found  to  be- 
long to  the  archdeacon.  This  being  the  cathedral  church,  there 
were  several  officiating  clergymen  of  the  different  grades  of  rec- 
tors, canons,  deans,  and  prebendaries,  with  a  full  choir  of  singers. 
The  latter  as  well  as  the  former  wore  white  robes,  and  the  cler- 
gymen were  attended  by  persons  dressed  in  coarse  black  gowns, 


518  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

with  a  kind  of  staff  or  truncheon  made  of  silver.  The  service,  as 
you  are  aware,  differs  very  little  in  substance  from  that  of  the 
Episcopal  church  in  America ;  but  I  thought  it  far  less  interest- 
ing, overloaded  as  its  beautiful  simplicity  is  here  with  so  much 
pomp  and  ceremony.  The  psalms  and  chants  were  sung  with 
the  aid  of  an  excellent  organ,  and  the  service  was  also  improved 
by  the  addition  of  two  beautiful  anthems.  I  must  leave  it  to 
your  imagination  to  conceive  the  grandeur  of  this  service,  per- 
formed within  the  walls  of  the  immense  cathedral.  I  joined  the 
congregation  in  the  service,  making  a  mental  reservation  in  that 
part  of  the  liturgy  where  prayers  are  offered  that  his  most  gra- 
cious majesty  may  obtain  victory  over  all  his  enemies,  and  in 
some  other  parts  where  I  preferred  to  qualify  my  wishes  for  the 
royal  family  within  the  limits  prescribed  by  my  allegiance  and 
devotion  to  our  own  government.  There  were  but  few  worship- 
pers, other  than  the  functionaries  of  the  church.  Most  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  city,  I  suppose,  have  more  convenient  seats  in 
the  parish-churches.  After  the  service  was  concluded,  and  the 
clergy  had  retired,  we  resumed  our  survey  of  the  cathedral.  The 
walls  are  adorned  with  monuments  of  the  dead  buried  under  the 
aisles  ;  and  the  floor  itself  seems  a  pavement  of  marble  slabs,  cov- 
ering tombs  of  more  than  ten  generations. 


LETTER   III. 

DUBLIN PARLIAMENT BANK   OF   IRELAND. 

Dublin,  June  24,   1833. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  You  know  the  great  desire  I  had  to  visit  this 
interesting  country,  and  to  see  for  myself  the  home  of  one  of  the 
most  ardent,  generous,  and  unfortunate  people  of  modern  times. 
We  crossed  the  channel  in  the  steamboat  Dublin,  leaving  Liver- 
pool in  the  evening.  The  weather  was  intensely  cold,  and  the 
sea  rough ;  our  little  steamer  rolled  about  very  much,  and  the 
excursion  was  more  uncomfortable  than  any  part  of  our  voyage 
across  the  Atlantic.  I  could  not  suppress  my  astonishment  at  the 
wretched  accommodations  furnished  by  this  steamboat,  for  the 


DUBLIN.  519 

great  number  of  passengers  continually  travelling  between  the 
two  large  cities  of  Liverpool  and  Dublin.  This  boat,  like  all 
others  here,  has  two  cabins  with  different  prices,  but  it  would 
puzzle  one  of  the  Irish  barristers  I  have  seen  here,  to  determine 
wherein  the  one  excels  the  other.  I  was  amused  by  witnessing 
the  manner  in  which  they  transfer  horses  and  cattle  from  the 
dock  to  the  boat.  They  have  small  frames  like  a  sentinel's  box, 
each  large  enough  to  hold  one  horse  with  his  hayrack.  One  of 
these  boxes  is  rolled  to  the  side  of  the  dock,  where  the  horse  is 
shut  within  it  by  bars.  The  animal  and  his  house  are  then  raised 
from  the  ground,  by  means  of  pullies,  and  both  are  thus  with 
great  care  transferred  to  the  deck.  There  were  about  twenty 
passengers  in  our  cabin,  all  of  whom,  with  the  exception  of  our- 
selves and  one  Englishman,  reside  in  Ireland.  There  were  two 
young  ladies.  The  captain  was  an  Irishman.  I  am  confident  I 
shall  not  experience  as  great  surprise  when  I  arrive  upon  the 
continent  and  find  myself  surrounded  by  persons  all  speaking  a 
language  of  which  I  am  entirely  ignorant,  as  I  have  felt  on  board 
the  steamboat,  and  since  my  arrival  here  in  finding  all  classes  of 
society  speaking  the  English  language,  in  a  dialect,  which  we 
have  been  always  accustomed  to  regard  as  the  evidence  of  a 
lower  caste  or  education.  But  although  the  passengers  on  board 
the  Dublin  spoke  English  very  badly,  according  to  my  ear,  I 
found  them  very  agreeable  people.  The  two  young  ladies  had 
beautiful  complexions ;  countenances  which  anywhere  in  the 
world  I  would  know  to  be  Irish,  though  by  what  particular 
marks  I  could  not  describe.  They  were  well  educated,  intelli- 
gent, and  modest.  A  young  gentleman,  also  an  Irishman,  was 
all  curiosity  to  learn  something  about  America,  as  well  as  full  of 
zeal  to  make  the  passage  agreeable  to  me.  Having  come  late 
on  board  I  was  unable  to  get  a  berth  in  the  after-cabin,  this  gen- 
tleman immediately  offered  me  his,  and  pressed  me  to  take  it 
with  an  importunity  which  would  not  admit  of  refusal.  On  my 
consenting  to  take  it  we  found  my  friend  had  committed  a  bull, 
his  berth  being  in  the  fore-cabin,  as  well  as  that  which  had  been 
offered  to  me.  He  then  represented  the  case  to  the  captain,  who 
made  a  good  provision  for  me.  All  the  Irish  passengers  expressed 
a  strong  aversion  to  the  English,  and  seemed  to  believe,  whether 
justly  or  not  I  do  not  know,  that  their  countrymen  of  all  classes 
are  treated  with  too  much  hauteur  by  their  richer  and  lordly 


520  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

neighbors.  After  tea  each  had  whiskey -punch  prepared,  and  the 
maxims  of  the  temperance  society  to  the  contrary  notwithstand- 
ing, I  could  not  decline  their  invitation  to  join  them  over  their 
favorite  beverage.  The  twilight  lasted  until  past  ten  o^lock, 
when  there  was  still  so  much  light  that  I  could  very  well  read 
on  deck.  After  passing  Holyhead,  we  retired,  the  other  passen- 
gers to  their  miserable  berths,  and  I  to  a  mattress  which  the 
steward  had  prepared  for  me.  In  the  morning  we  had  a  strange 
medley  for  breakfast  —  cold  ham,  corned  beef,  and  shrimps,  with 
tea  and  coffee,  which  were  anything  but  luxurious. 

The  road  to  Dublin  passes  through  a  succession  of  villages, 
densely  populated,  and  so  near  to  each  other  that  the  whole 
seems  like  a  continuous  street.  These  villages  are,  for  the 
greater  part,  composed  of  the  dwelling-houses  of  the  noblemen, 
gentry,  and  merchants  of  Dublin,  and  I  confess  I  have  never  seen 
any  more  beautiful  street  than  is  thus  formed.  Accustomed  as 
we  have  been  to  the  habits,  appearance,  and  manners  of  Irish 
emigrants,  had  I  waked  from  a  long  sleep  without  any  previous 
knowledge  that  I  was  destined  to  visit  Ireland,  I  should  at  once 
have  known  that  I  was  upon  the  Emerald  Isle.  The  road  the 
whole  distance  from  Kingstown  to  Dublin  was  covered  by 
pedestrians  and  passengers  in  all  imaginable  sorts  of  vehicles, 
as  if  passing  to  and  from  some  great  fair  or  holiday  festival. 
The  strongly-marked  Irish  physiognomy  and  dialect,  the  squalid 
appearance  and  tattered  threadbare  habits,  and  the  reeling  steps, 
all  proclaimed  that  I  was  among  the  peasantry  of  that  thriftless 
but  contented  people,  who  "  take  no  thought  for  the  morrow, 
neither  what  they  shall  eat,  nor  what  they  shall  drink,  nor 
wherewithal  they  shall  be  clothed."  All  this  crowd  were  evi- 
dently very  poor,  but  I  can  not  say  that  I  saw  one  unhappy ;  not 
even  excepting  the  beggars,  who  assumed  a  woful  countenance 
until  they  had  obtained  from  the  traveller  a  few  halfpence,  and 
then  joined  their  merry  companions  in  spirits  as  gay  as  any. 
Such  as  our  diligence  was  were  all  the  public  coaches  we  met, 
but  we  were  mostly  amused  by  a  carriage  of  a  peculiar  construc- 
tion, called  a  jaunting  car,  which  seemed  to  be  most  favored  by 
the  passengers.  It  is  drawn  by  one  horse,  and  consists  of  a  small 
cart  with  a  frame  erected  lengthwise  in  the  centre,  from  which- 
„are  suspended  two  benches  or  seats,  each  of  which  will  accom- 
modate three  persons,  who  thus  ride  as  we  would  say  sidewise. 


DUBLIN.  521 

The  expense  of  riding  in  these  vehicles  is  very  cheap.  Most  of 
them,  as  well  as  the  horses  and  drivers  are  indescribably  old  and 
mean  in  appearance,  and  correspond  with  the  habiliments  of  the 
passengers.  It  was  amusing  to  see  women  and  men  jostling  along 
the  road,  as  happy  as  the  Irish  proverbially  are,  in  these  strange- 
looking  vehicles,  some  with  a  piece  of  bread,  some  small  bundles, 
and  some  bottles  of  whiskey  —  sharing  with  each  other  the  differ- 
ent promises  of  each,  and  regardless  of  present  appearance  or 
future  care.  At  first  we  supposed  these  novel  carriages  were 
appropriated  solely  to  the  use  of  the  poor,  but  we  have  since 
seen  many  finished  very  elegantly  and  drawn  by  fine  horses: 
and  we  find  that  they  are  the  ordinary  means  of  conveyance  used 
by  all  classes  of  people  as  hackney-coaches  are  in  New  York. 
On  our  way  to  Dublin,  one  of  our  Irish  passengers  pointed  out 
to  me  the  village  of  Donnybrook,  so  much  celebrated  for  its 
annual  fair.  It  is  now  one  of  the  suburbs  of  Dublin.  We  en- 
tered the  city  through  a  spacious  and  splendid  street,  the  houses 
on  both  sides  being  of  great  height  and  well  constructed  of  hand- 
some stone.  The  diligence  set  us  down  at  the  door  of  Holmes' 
hotel,  upon  the  corner  of  College-Green,  in  the  centre  of  the  city, 
and  presenting  a  more  splendid  view  than  I  have  ever  before  seen 
in  any  town.  On  our  right  are  the  noble  and  venerable  walls  of 
Trinity  College,  and  in  front  a  grand  and  imposing  edifice,  for- 
merly the  capitol  of  Ireland.  Having  been  shown  to  the  rooms 
assigned  to  us,  we  protested  against  them ;  the  chambermaid 
assured  us  that  they  were  very  clean  and  nice,  notwithstanding 
the  evidence  of  our  senses  to  the  contrary.  When  we  were  about 
to  abandon  the  house,  the  girl  promised  with  so  much  earnestness 
to  put  them  in  better  condition,  that  we  consented  to  wait  till 
we  should  see  the  result  of  her  operations.  And  it  is  but  justice 
to  her  to  say  that  she  fulfilled  her  promise. 

In  the  coffee-room  was  a  notice,  stating  the  price  of  reading 
the  journal  of  the  day,  by  any  except  lodgers  in  the  house  at 
three  pence,  and  the  price  of  perusal  of  the  journal  of  a  previous 
day  at  two  pence.  From  our  windows  we  have  a  view  of  the  most 
motley  mixture  of  pedestrians  in  the  streets.  Men  and  women 
are  seen  traversing  the  streets,  carrying  large  placards  affixed  to 
poles,  and  others  having  them  fixed  upon  pasteboard,  carry  them 
suspended  upon  their  shoulders  before  and  behind  them.  I  wa3 
curious  to  see  what  important  intelligence  these  placards  con- 


522  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

tamed,  to  justify  such  great  efforts  and  expense  to  give  it  pub- 
licity. I  followed  one  until  I  could  read :  "  John  Leonard's  boot 
and  shoe  store  is  well-supplied,"  &c.  Another  was  a  bill  of  the 
play,  and  another  the  advertisement  of  our  steamboat  on  her 
return  passage. 

Our  dinner  was  served  to  us  in  the  most  economical  manner 
possible.  Nothing  was  put  upon  the  table,  not  even  the  smallest 
article,  except  it  was  demanded  and  charged  for. 

After  dinner  we  walked  through  Sackville  street,  said  to  be 
one  of  the  finest  streets  in  Europe.  It  is  very  spacious.  The 
houses  are  large  and  imposing.  It  is  adorned  with  a  fine  bridge, 
and  with  many  of  the  most  splendid  public  buildings,  and  a 
column  of  great  height,  in  commemoration  of  Nelson's  victories. 
But  what  was  far  more  interesting  to  me,  was  the  heterogeneous 
composition  of  the  population  who  thronged  the  streets.  What- 
ever you  can  imagine  of  splendor  and  luxury,  of  equipage  and 
dress,  is  to  be  seen  at  all  times  in  Sackville  street.  Coaches  with 
the  finest  horses,  liveried  servants,  ladies  gayly  mounted  on  horse- 
back, and  military  officers  in  superb  uniform,  are  continually 
passing ;  and  by  the  side  of  these,  and  among  them,  are  the  most 
wretched  vehicles,  the  meanness  and  tatters  of  absolute  poverty 
and  mendicity.  Beggars  throng  every  avenue  and  passage,  and 
the  variety  of  their  modes  of  address,  exhibits,  often,  the  impas- 
sioned and  versatile  eloquence  of  the  country.  Nowhere  have  I 
seen  the  two  extremes  of  wealth  and  poverty  brought  into  such 
glaring  contrast  as  in  the  streets  of  Dublin. 

Dublin  has  many  magnificent  public  buildings.  Of  these,  the 
most  beautiful,  and  in  other  respects  the  most  interesting,  is  the 
bank  of  Ireland,  formerly  the  parliament-house.  The  exterior  is 
simple  but  grand,  and  may  be  cited  as  an  instance  of  the  beauty 
which  may  be  produced  by  the  mere  correct  adjustment  of  pro- 
portions. The  edifice  is  of  Portland  stone,  so  accurately  shaded 
as,  at  a  little  distance,  to  resemble  the  finest  painting.  The  grand 
portico  is  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  feet,  and  fronts  upon  Col- 
lege-Green. It  is  of  the  Ionic  order,  and  almost  destitute  of  orna- 
ment. The  tympanum  of  the  pediment  has,  in  the  centre,  the 
royal  arms  of  Great  Britain  —  on  its  summit,  the  figure  of  Hiber- 
nia,  with  Commerce  on  her  right,  and  Fidelity  on  her  left.  The 
pediment  over  the  east  front  is  ornamented  with  statues,  repre- 
senting  Fortitude,  Justice,  and  Liberty.     The  chamber  which 


DUBLIN.  523 

was  occupied  by  the  house  of  lords,  remains  unchanged.  It  is 
seventy-three  feet  long,  and  thirty  feet  wide ;  the  walls  are 
covered  with  tapestry  representing  the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  and 
the  siege  of  Londonderry.  At  the  further  end  is  a  statue  of 
George  III.,  in  white  marble. 

The  hall  of  the  house  of  commons  is  a  circle,  having  a  diameter 
of  fifty-five  feet  inscribed  in  a  square.  The  hall  is  surmounted  by 
a  dome  supported  by  sixteen  Corinthian  columns,  and  richly 
ornamented  with  national  paintings.  I  could  well  conceive, 
when  I  visited  these  rooms,  that  it  was  probably  no  vain  boast 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Dublin,  that  the  halls  of  their  parliament 
were  superior  to  any  in  Europe.  But  all  this  glory  has  departed. 
The  very  shadow  (and  for  a  long  time  the  Irish  parliament  was 
but  the  shadow)  of  independence  has  vanished.  Ireland  has 
surrendered  the  individuality  of  her  national  existence,  to  share, 
like  a  younger  sister,  that  of  England. 

The  walls  of  the  parliament-house  remain  in  all  their  primitive 
grandeur,  to  reproach  the  degeneracy  of  her  statesmen.  My 
thoughts,  while  I  traversed  the  apartments,  reverted  to  the 
debate  when  the  degenerate  representatives  surrendered  their 
parliament ;  and  I  thought  that,  had  I  occupied  a  place  there  I 
would  have  seen  English  armies  wade  in  blood  over  my  country 
before  I  would  have  assented  to  so  disgraceful  a  union.  Some- 
thing might  have  been  spared,  after  the  deed  was  consummated, 
to  the  wounded  pride  of  the  Irish  people.  The  parliament-house 
ought  to  have  been  closed  and  left  in  gloomy  solitude,  a  monu- 
ment to  remind  the  people  that  they  once  had  a  country.  But 
this  was  too  great  a  concession  for  the  economy  of  the  English 
administration  of  affairs  in  Ireland.  They  who  build  palaces  and 
monuments  with  a  profuse  hand  on  the  other  side  of  the  channel, 
sold  the  Irish  capitol,  and  it  was  forthwith  converted  into  a  hall 
for  money-changers.  I  confess  that,  overleaping  all  the  obstacles 
which  are  deemed  by  many  well-wishers  of  Ireland  insurmount- 
able, I  wish  the  repeal  of  the  union.  I  will  not  believe  that,  if 
relieved  from  that  oppressive  act,  she  does  not  possess  the  capa- 
bility to  govern  herself.  I  admit,  when  I  advert  to  the  unen- 
lightened condition  of  the  people,  the  experiment  would  be  diffi- 
cult, perhaps  dangerous.  But  I  have  seen  enough  to  convince 
me,  that  until  the  repeal  shall  take  place,  the  people  will  never 
be  enlightened  and  educated.     The  secret  spring  of  all  English 


524  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

policy  in  reference  to  Ireland,  is  jealousy  of  the  Catholic  religion. 
Even  here,  in  the  capital  of  Ireland,  I  have  found  the  Protestants 
urging  against  all  propositions  for  educating  the  people,  the  same 
arguments  used  in  the  southern  states  of  our  Union,  to  justify  the 
penal  enactments  against  the  education  of  slaves,  that  is  to  say, 
the  apprehension  that  when  educated,  they  will  demand  their 
natural  and  inalienable  rights.  Sure  I  am  that  were  Ireland 
united  in  herself,  she  would  soon  command,  at  the  hands  of  Eng- 
land the  surrender  of  her  selfish  and  cruel  policy,  but  the  truth 
is,  that  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  Dublin  are 
Protestants.  With  the  change  of  the  government  from  a  Protes- 
tant to  Catholic  administration,  would  come  the  prostration  of 
their  power  and  influence ;  and  they  pretend,  also,  that  they 
would  be  unsafe  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  religion,  their  prop- 
erty, and  their  lives,  and  hence  it  is  that  Irishmen  are  seen 
streno-thenino;  and  sustaining;  the  arm  which  crushes  Ireland.  I 
am  sorry  to  add,  that  this  party  is  so  numerous,  and  possesses  so 
great  advantage  in  respect  of  education  and  wealth,  that,  allied 
to  the  government  of  England,  they  are  likely  very  long  to  post- 
pone the  regeneration  of  Ireland.  Indeed,  that  event  is  treated 
by  them,  as  well  as  by  many  who  would  ardently  wish  to  see  it, 
.as  chimerical.  If,  as  I  fear,  it  is  so,  then  there  is  no  hope  for 
Ireland  but  to  wait  patiently  the  event.  Sooner  or  later  she 
must  break  the  power  of  her  oppressor,  and  compel  the  sister- 
nation  to  be  content  with  the  government  of  their  own  island. 
Much  was  told  us  of  the  excellence  of  the  internal  arrangement 
of  the  bank  for  the  transaction  of  business,  but  I  had  no  heart  to 
examine  its  details,  I  thought  only  of  the  edifice,  of  what  it  had 
been  and  ought  to  be,  and  endeavored  to  banish  all  that  could 
tend  to  weaken  those  associations. 

The  bank  is  guarded  day  and  night  by  a  strong  police,  and  we 
discovered  that  the  government  of  the  institution  had  prudently 
taken  care,  as  soon  as  they  purchased  the  building,  to  arm  it  with 
small  artillery,  in  order  to  resist  the  attacks  of  mobs,  of  which 
they  remain  in  constant  apprehension. 

We  next  proceeded  to  visit  the  Four  Courts,  as  the  building  is 
called,  in  which  the  sessions  of  the  higher  courts  are  held.  This, 
like  most  of  the  public  buildings  in  Dublin,  exhibits  much  taste 
and  magnificence.  It  has  a  front,  toward  the  river,  of  four  hun- 
dred and  forty  feet,  and  extends  in  rear,  one  hundred  and  seventy 


DUBLIN.  525 

feet.  It  is  built  of  the  same  kind  of  stone  so  often  mentioned. 
In  front  is  a  portico  consisting  of  six  large  Corinthian  pillars. 
The  pediment  of  the  portico  is  surmounted  by  a  statue  of  Moses,. 
with  the  figures  of  Justice  on  one  side  and  Mercy  on  the  other. 
On  the  angles  of  the  building  in  front,  are  statues  emblematic  of 
wisdom  and  authority.  Having  entered  the  portico,  we  found 
ourselves  in  a  circular  hall,  lighted  by  a  dome.  The  diameter 
of  this  spacious  hall  is  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet.  The 
hall  forms  the  vestibule  to  the  apartments  in  which  the  sessions 
of  the  four  courts  are  held.  The  dome  contains  eight  windows., 
the  spaces  between  which  are  decorated  with  statues  of  colossal 
size,  emblematic  of  liberty,  justice,  wisdom,  law,  prudence, 
mercy,  and  eloquence.  Still  above  these,  and  in  a  rich  frieze 
which  adorns  the  dome,  are  medallions  representing  Moses, 
Lycurgus,  Solon,  Numa,  Confucius,  Alfred,  Mancha  Capac,  and 
Ollambh  Fodlah.  The  dome  is  supported  by  Corinthian  columns, 
and  over  the  entrance  to  the  courts  are  bas-reliefs  of  William  the 
Conqueror  establishing  courts  of  justice,  King  John  affixing  his 
signature  to  Magna  Charta,  E[enry  II.  receiving  the  Irish  chief- 
tains, and  James  I.  abolishing  the  Brehon  law.  This  great  hall 
exhibits  a  lively  scene  of  clients,  witnesses,  advocates,  and  attor- 
nies,  and  clerks.  The  gentlemen  of  the  bar  here  wear  black 
gowns  and  enormous  flaxen  wigs,  which  give  them  a  very  gro- 
tesque appearance.  We  entered  the  court  of  exchequer,  but, 
finding  the  court  about  to  adjourn,  we  applied  to  a  man  holding 
a  staff  and  wearing  a  kind  of  black  gown,  to  direct  us  to  one  of 
the  other  halls  in  which  a  court  was  in  session.  He  immediately 
went  with  us  across  the  hall  to  the  court  of  king's  bench,  where 
one  of  the  justices  was  holding  the  sittings  or  circuit  court.  In 
all  respects  the  apartment  differed  from  those  appropriated  to  a 
similar  use  in  America.  It  was  very  small,  but  handsomely 
fitted-up  and  well-lighted.  In  front  was  the  bench,  elevated  as 
high  as  the  pulpit  ordinarily  is  placed  in  our  churches.  There 
sat  my  lord  the  justice  robed  and  wearing  a  prodigious  white 
flaxen  wig  with  ringlets  descending  upon  his  shoulders.  By  his 
side  sat  the  lord-bishop  of  Kildare,  who,  by  virtue  of  his  high 
ecclesiastical  rank,  is  entitled  to  the  courtesy  of  a  seat  upon  the 
bench,  but  without  the  right  of  participating  in  the  duties  of  the 
judge.  In  a  gallery  at  the  right  hand  of  the  judge,  and  elevated 
still  higher  than  the  bench,  were  the  jury,  each  having  paper,. 


526  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

pen,  and  ink,  placed  before  him.  In  front  of  the  bench,  at  the  left 
hand  of  the  judges,  was  elevated  a  kind  of  platform,  on  which 
was  a  single  chair,  which  was  occupied  by  the  witness,  who  was 
undergoing  examination.  In  front  of  the  bench,  and  on  a  level 
with  the  floor,  was  a  table  occupied  by  the  clerk  and  reporters. 
A  row  of  benches,  those  in  rear  elevated  .higher  than  those  in 
front,  was  occupied  by  the  counsellors  and  attorneys.  Those 
dressed  in  silk  gowns,  and  called  the  king's  counsel,  occupied  the 
front  seats ;  those  dressed  in  bombazet  robes  had  their  places  in 
rear.  The  only  place  allotted  to  spectators  was  a  small  gallery  in 
which,  possibly,  one  hundred  and  flfty  persons  might  stand.  The 
sheriff  whispered  to  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  long  robe,  who 
forthwith  invited  us  to  a  seat  within  the  bar.  The  counsel  inva- 
riably stands  while  examining  the  witness,  and  leaves  to  an  asso- 
ciate to  take  notes  of  the  examination.  We  were  very  much 
interested  in  the  proceedings  by  the  display  of  the  tact  and  ability 
of  the  barrister  in  the  examination  of  the  witnesses.  But  our 
time  would  not  allow  us  to  stay  until  the  conclusion  of  the  cause. 
We  subsequently  visited  the  court»of  exchequer,  where  we  were 
gratified  by  hearing  a  very  able  address  to  the  jury  by  one  of  the 
barristers,  who  exhibited  the  greatest  skill  in  the  fortification  of 
his  points ;  but  we  observed  that  all  the  barristers  had  the  same 
peculiarity  of  dialect  which  distinguishes  an  Irishman  every- 
where. 


LETTER   IY. 

DUBLIN REMINISCENCE    OF   ROBERT   EMMETT,    &C. 

Dublin,  June  26,   1833. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  This  morning  we  repaired,  at  an  early  hour,  to 
the  castle.  We  arrived  in  time  to  witness  the  splendid  ceremony 
of  mounting  guard,  by  four  regiments  of  cavalry  and  two  regi- 
ments of  infantry,  with  regimental  music.  The  troops  are  ele- 
gantly uniformed,  and  the  horsemen  most  richly  mounted.  The 
wl^le  performance  occupied  an  hour,  and  was  attended  by 
several  thousands  of  the  people,  who  were  amused  by  this  exhibi- 


DUBLIN.  537 

tion  of  the  rigor  of  a  police,  whose  only  object  is  to  protect  the 
government  against  their  own  violence.  A  gentleman  with 
whom  we  became  acquainted  here,  adverting  to  the  jealousy  of 
the  government,  told  us  his  father  was  one  of  the  jurors  by 
whom  Robert  Emmett  was  convicted.  He  added  that,  his  father 
had  often  described  the  painful  sympathies  of  the  jury  for  the 
unfortunate  and  heroic  youth,  and  always  reverted  to  the  event 
as  one  of  the  unhappiest  incidents  of  his  life.  The  castle  is  the 
residence  of  the  lord-lieutenant,  or  vicegerent  of  Ireland.  It  is 
situated  upon  an  eminence  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  city.  Its 
dimensions  and  strength,  and  the  display  of  military  power,  are 
all  in  keeping  with  the  policy  of  the  British  government,  which 
studies  to  render  the  office  of  viceroy,  in  the  estimation  of  the 
Irish  people,  little  inferior  to  majesty  itself. 

The  castle  is  divided  into  two  courts,  the  upper  and  lower. 
The  former  is  principally  occupied  with  the  apartments  of  the 
lord  lieutenant.  These  rooms  are  spacious,  but  the  architecture 
is  ancient  and  plain.  They  are,  nevertheless,  expensively  orna- 
mented, and  furnished  in  a  style  corresponding  with  the  rank 
and  wealth  of  his  excellency.  This  court  consists  of  a  quadrangle, 
two  hundred  and  eighty  feet  long,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty 
feet  broad,  with  uniform  buildings  on  every  side. 

In  the  presence-chamber  is  the  throne  erected  in  1821  for 
George  IV.,  when  he  made  his  gracious  visit  to  this  part  of  his 
majesty's  realms.  All  the  costly  furniture  of  the  apartment  re- 
mains unchanged.  I  took  the  liberty  to  occupy  the  throne  while 
I  made  my  hasty  sketches  of  my  visit  to  this  part  of  the  palace ; 
but  I  could  not  discover  that  there  was  anything  in  the  fabric 
itself  calculated  to  inspire  lofty  emotions;  and  I  doubt  whether 
its  present  occupant  finds  it  as  soft  and  agreeable  a  seat  as  an 
arm  chair  by  the  fireside,  with  a  cushion  for  his  gouty  toe.  The 
room  is  ornamented  with  pictures  of  George  III.  and  Queen  Char- 
lotte, with  national  paintings  upon  the  ceiling,  and  the  devices 
of  England,  Ireland,  and  Scotland  (the  rose,  shamrock,  and  this- 
tle), entwined  in  wreaths,  with  the  motto,  "  Tria  juncta  in  uno, 
quis  separabit  ?"  I  suppose  O'Connell  would  answer  the  ques- 
tion, by  acknowledging  the  will  to  separate  the  union,  and  la- 
menting the  want  of  power  to  accomplish  it.  The  dining-room, 
bedchamber,  and  library,  with  the  other  apartments  of  the  suite, 
are  superbly  furnished ;   but  the  hall  which  is  the  most  spienuxv* 


528  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

and  imposing  is  the  ballroom  called  St.  Patrick's  chamber,  from 
the  circumstance  that  the  institution  of  the  order  of  St.  Patrick 
took  place  there.  It  is  eighty-two  feet  in  length,  forty-one  feet 
in  breadth,  and  thirty-eight  feet  high,  and  is  furnished  with  an 
orchestra,  superb  damask  hangings,  chandeliers,  and  a  throne. 
The  whole  ceiling  is  decorated  with  paintings.  In  one  compart- 
ment of  the  ceiling  is  the  scene  of  St.  Patrick  converting  the 
native  Irish  to  Christianity.  In  another,  Henry  II.  is  seated  un- 
der a  canopy,  and  receives  the  oath  of  allegiance  of  the  Irish 
chieftains  ;  and  in  the  centre  is  the  coronation  of  George  III.  It 
is  an  allegorical  painting,  and  his  majesty  is  seen  surrounded  by 
angels,  figures  emblematic  of  Ireland,  England,  and  Scotland,, 
peace,  plenty,  commerce,  &c. 

From  the  state  apartments  we  proceeded  to  the  chapel  of  the 
castle,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  specimens  of  architecture  in  Eu- 
rope. The  building  is  seventy-three  feet  long  and  thirty  five  feet 
broad.  The  style  is  modern  Gothic  ;  the  materials  are  Portland 
stone.  The  exterior  is  ornamented  with  ninety  busts,  including 
many  saints,  and  all  the  kings  of  England.  They  are  sculptured 
in  blue  marble.  Over  the  entrance  is  the  bust  of  St.  Peter,  hold- 
ing the  keys  of  heaven,  and  above  is  a  bust  of  Dean  Swift.  The 
entrance  on  the  other  side  is  adorned  with  busts  of  St.  Patrick 
and  Brian  Borhoime,  and  over  them  a  bust  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 
The  interior  is  finished  in  fine  Irish  oak,  with  a  throne  and  pews 
for  the  nobility  in  the  gallery,  and  pews  on  the  lower  floor  for 
the  officers  attached  to  the  government.  In  the  great  window 
over  the  altar  is  a  rich  and  beautiful  painting  of  Christ  before 
Pilate. 

My  curiosity  led  me  to  go  through  the  chapel  and  read  the 
names  of  the  noble  families  and  state  offices  printed  upon  the 
doors  of  the  pews.  Among  the  latter  I  found  a  pew  bearing  the 
name  of  Mrs.  Johnson.  I  inquired  who  was  this  Mrs.  Johnson, 
and  was  told  that  she  was  the  widow  of  the  architect,  who  died 
just  at  the  completion  of  the  beautiful  edifice  ;  and  the  govern- 
ment, in  compliment  to  her  deceased  husband,  and  as  an  expres- 
sion of  their  entire  satisfaction  with  the  manner  in  which  his 
arduous  task  had  been  completed,  bestowed  this  pew  upon  his 
widow.  The  compliment  was  the  more  valuable,  because  hers 
is  the  only  pew  in  the  chapel  appropriated  to  the  use  of  a  private 
individual.    The  seats  of  the  nobility  are  decorated  with  engra- 


DUBLIN.  529 

vings  of  their  arms ;  and  the  chancel,  in  very  bad  taste,  displays 
the  gilded  titles  and  arms  of  the  several  lord-lieutenants. 

In  the  pew  containing  the  throne  was  a  small  thermometer, 
used  by  his  excellency,  as  our  conductor  informed  us,  for  ascer- 
taining that  the  room  is  always  heated  to  a  particular  tempera- 
ture, he  being  a  sufferer  under  the  tic-doloreux.  Our  guide 
showed  us  the  massive  silver  and  gold  vessels  of  the  communion- 
table, but  I  dare  not  trust  myself  to  copy  from  my  notes  the 
great  weight  of  precious  metal  they  are  said  to  contain.  You 
will  be  able  to  form  some  idea  of  the  beauty  of  this  little  chapel, 
when  informed  that  it  is  built  in  the  purest  taste,  and  cost  seventy- 
five  thousand  pounds  sterling. 

Dublin  castle  boasts  an  antiquity  of  about  six  hundred  years, 
and  was  originally  constructed,  as  it  has  always  since  been  used, 
to  maintain  the  strength  of  the  English  interest  in  Ireland.  It 
was  not,  however,  until  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  that  it  be- 
came the  residence  of  the  English  viceroys.  In  appearance  it  is  not 
imposing,  but  it  is  capable  of  being  defended  with  great  success. 
The  lower  court  is  surrounded  by  buildings  devoted  to  military 
purposes,  containing  ordnance,  armories,  arsenals,  guardhouses, 
&c.  Our  guide  pointed  out  to  us  a  new  and  very  splendid  build- 
ing, resembling  a  palace  of  itself,  which  she  commended  to  our 
notice.  It  was  the  building  intended  for  his  excellency's  stables. 
But  we  did  not  consider  it  exactly  in  as  important  a  light  as,  from 
the  expense  bestowed  upon  it  by  his  excellency,  he  seemed  to 
regard  it.  What  devices  will  not  public  officers  resort  to,  to  ex- 
pend money  so  profusely  bestowed  upon  them,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  government  of  Ireland?  His  excellency  receives  an  annual 
salary  of  thirty  thousand  pounds  sterling,  and  has  a  household 
consisting  of  secretaries,  stewards,  ushers,  master-of-horse,  gentle- 
men of  the  bedchamber,  chaplains,  battle-axe  guards,  and  I  know 
not  what  other  functionaries. 

Having  left  the  castle,  we  took  one  of  the  best  we  could  find 
of  the  wretched  jaunting-cars,  and  gave  Patrick,  our  driver,  the 
list  of  lions  we  desired  to  visit,  with  directions  to  take  them  in 
the  order  most  advantageous  to  save  time.  One  of  the  peculiari- 
ties in  which  European  cities  are  said  to  excel  our  largest  Amer- 
ican towns  is,  the  preservation  of  extensive  public  grounds  and 
promenades,  which  contribute  greatly  to  the  beauty  of  the  city,, 
and  are  very  conducive  to  the  health  of  the  inhabitants.     In  this- 

Vol.  III. — 34 


530  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

respect,  Dublin  very  far  exceeds  Liverpool,  and  all  American 
cities,  not  excepting  Philadelphia.  We  visited  Stephen's  Green, 
a  beautiful  square  containing  seventeen  acres,  in  the  centre  of 
which  is  an  equestrian  statue  in  brass  of  George  II.  This  park 
is  handsomely  ornamented  with  forest- trees.  Upon  an  elevated 
spot  in  Phoenix  park  stands  a  monument  in  commemoration  of 
Wellington's  victories.  It  consists  of  a  base  or  platform  of  con- 
siderable height,  and  an  obelisk,  upon  the  four  sides  of  which  are 
inscribed  the  victories  of  the  Irish  general,  and  in  front  is  a  ped- 
estal intended  to  support  an  equestrian  statue.  The  whole  affair 
is  a  complete  failure,  having  no  pretensions  to  either  grandeur  or 
beauty.  In  the  same  park,  and  at  a  distance  of  about  two  miles 
from  Dublin,  is  the  palace  belonging  to  the  viceroy,  and  called 
the  Lodge.  It  is  built  of  stone,  covered  with  yellow  stucco.  Its 
dimensions  are  small  compared  with  those  of  the  upper  court  of 
the  castle,  but  the  whole  design  and  arrangement  are  marked  by 
good  taste  without  profusion.  This  is  the  favorite  residence  of 
the  lord-lieutenant. 

The  palace  is  embowered  in  groves  of  beautiful  and  ancient 
forest-trees,  and  the  grounds  are  ornamented  with  great  art.  No- 
tice had  been  given  to  the  household  that  his  excellency  would 
return  to-day  with  his  family  to  this  chateau,  from  Kingstown, 
where  he  has  been  taking  the  benefit  of  the  baths.  All  were 
preparing  to  receive  the  great  man,  who  was  hourly  expected, 
and  in  consequence  we  were  compelled  to  make  our  examination 
very  brief,  as  strangers  are  admitted  to  see  these  residences  of 
the  great  only  when  the  families  are  absent.  The  suite  of  apart- 
ments consisted  of  the  same  number  of  rooms,  devoted  to  the 
same  purposes,  as  those  we  had  already  visited  at  Eaton  hall  and 
in  the  castle.  They  were  constructed  in  a  more  modern  style, 
and  furnished  with  greater  taste,  though  less  expense,  than  those 
in  the  castle.  The  lord-lieutenant's  audience-chamber  is  orna- 
mented with  a  triumphal  star  formed  of  the  swords  and  pistols 
worn  by  him  in  the  campaigns  on  the  continent.  In  the  draw- 
ing-room was  an  elegant  collection  of  medals  of  distinguished 
generals,  among  which  I  noticed  those  of  Washington  and  Bona- 
parte. After  being  hurried  through  the  beautiful  apartments  of 
this  princely  mansion,  our  guide  led  us  to  a  little  retreat  on  the 
banks  of  the  Liffey,  called  the  "Strawberry-beds,"  where  the 
high  and  steep  banks  of  the  river  are  covered  with  that  delicious 


DUBLIN.  531 

fruit,  raised  in  such  great  quantities  that  they  afford  the  luxury 
of  strawberries  and  cream  at  a  small  expense  to  the  thousands  of 
citizens  who  daily  resort  to  the  garden.  The  road  thence  to  the 
compact  part  of  the  city  is  thronged  with  carriages  of  all  descrip- 
tions, and  the  wayside  exhibits  at  every  turn  a  host  of  beggars. 
Persons  are  seen  in  rags,  walking,  sitting,  and  sleeping,  under 
the  shade  of  the  shrubbery.  As  we  were  descending  a  hill  on 
our  return  to  town,  we  saw  a  whole  family  who  had  left  their 
jaunting-car  by  the  roadside,  and  were  taking  a  repast  under  the 
shade  of  a  tree.  Being  very  thirsty,  we  went  into  the  circle  and 
asked  for  a  draught  of  water,  which  was  immediately  given  us. 
The  lady,  who  was  well  dressed  and  of  respectable  appearance, 
pressed  us  to  take  some  spirits  from  a  bottle  she  had  at  her  side. 
It  was  with  difficulty  we  could  make  her  understand  that  it  was 
not  from  mere  politeness  that  we  declined  it.  The  woman  poured 
out  a  cuj3  for  herself,  and  said  she  did  not  think  it  was  good  to 
drink  water  alone,  it  was  so  cold.  I  fear,  from  all  I  have  seen, 
that  the  temperance  society  has  but  an  indifferent  prospect  in 
Ireland. 

Before  reaching  the  town,  we  had  the  good  fortune  to  pass  by 
a  little  village  in  the  suburbs,  called  St.  John's  Well,  where  was 
being  held  a  fair,  which,  if  it  be  inferior  to  those  which  have 
given  so  great  celebrity  to  Donnybrook,  was  nevertheless  inter- 
esting, as  it  gave  us  an  opportunity  to  witness  the  amusements 
of  the  lower  class  of  the  Irish  people.  But  it  was  a  scene  which 
I  might  in  vain  attempt  to  describe.  Imagine  a  field  of  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  square,  lying  by  the  roadside ;  along  the  side  of  the 
road,  and  on  each  of  the  four  sides  of  the  field,  a  row  of  tents, 
all  of  different  dimensions  and  appearance,  from  the  one  made 
of  good  Irish  linen,  and  affording  accommodations  for  fifty  of  the 
choice  spirits  of  the  metropolis,  to  the  humble  shed  formed  by 
patched  and  ragged  coverlids  from  the  peasant's  bed.  Each  of 
these  booths  or  tents  has  a  sign,  devised  in  the  manner  which  to 
the  inventor  seemed  best  calculated  to  attract  customers.  One 
bears  the  appellation  of  the  "  Stranger's  Home  ;"  another,  "  Pad- 
dy's Retreat ;"  another,  "  The  Two  Friends."  Poetry  and  paint- 
ing have  lent  their  aid  to  the  completion  of  these  seductive  sign- 
boards. In  a  festoon  of  ribands  upon  one  of  them  was  this  dis- 
tich, under  the  figure  of  a  goose,  which  was  intended  to  repre- 
sent a  swan :  — 


532  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

"A  man  loves  water  —  water  that  is  clear: 
So  do  we  love  good  brandy,  ale,  and  beer." 

"  Mrs.  Sarah  Oaks  keeps  her  house  for  the  entertainment  of  the 
loyal  sailor."  The  device  upon  her  sign  is  a  sailor  swinging  a 
bottle  over  his  head,  and  exclaiming,  "  The  king,  God  bless  him  !" 
But  most  of  the  publicans  are  patriots,  that  is,  against  the  gov- 
ernment. One  has  a  glaring,  red-faced  Irish  portrait,  under 
which  is  inscribed,  "Daniel  O'Connell  for  ever — Erin  go  bragh 
for  ever !" 

Advancing  along  the  line  of  booths,  we  stopped  at  the  door  of 
"The  Cottage  of  Content,"  where  a  woman  was  fiddling,  and 
about  thirty  Irish  lads  and  lasses  were  dancing  —  not  indeed  with 
"  light  fantastic  toe,"  but  with  real  solid,  clouted  shoes. 

A  little  further  on  was  a  theatre  erected  upon  cart-wheels,  with 
a  small  stage  at  the  side,  upon  which  a  woman  and  the  clown 
were  holding  a  dialogue,  by  way  of  inducing  the  spectators  to 
witness  the  approaching  performance.  A  person  among  the 
crowd,  of  respectable  appearance,  interrupted  the  performance, 
and  proceeded  to  expostulate  with  the  clown  upon  the  folly  of 
his  appearing  in  a  grotesque  dress,  and  playing  the  part  of  a  buf- 
foon for  so  wretched  a  compensation.  The  clown  maintained  his 
side  of  the  argument  very  badly,  but  the  audience  were  all  for 
him,  and  I  was  apprehensive  that  the  moralist  would  not  escape 
without  violence.  Nevertheless,  the  rising  storm  was  allayed 
when  the  master  of  the  exhibition  appeared  and  cheerfully  offered 
to  the  lecturer  to  abandon  his  theatre,  if  he  would  indemnify  him 
for  the  expense  of  scenery  and  costumes.  The  audience  asserted 
that  the  proposition  was  fair,  and,  inasmuch  as  the  moralist  was 
not  inclined  to  accept  it,  they  were  unanimously  resolved  that  he 
should  hold  his  peace.  In  the  centre  of  the  area  were  all  man- 
ner of  swings,  wooden  horses,  and  erections  for  exercise.  In 
another  place  were  wheels  of  fortune,  and  a  hundred  other  de- 
vices for  gambling.  Upon  one  side  of  the  area  were  women 
cooking  potatoes  over  the  turf-fires,  for  the  accommodation  of  the 
poorest  class  of  visiters.  The  board  covered  with  boiled  potatoes 
was  invariably  graced  with  a  bottle  of  whiskey  and  an  empty 
glass.  In  the  area  were  thousands  of  people,  who  were  in  con- 
tinual motion,  going  from  one  part  of  the  field  to  another,  as  the 
attraction  of  a  drum-beater,  or  a  buffoon  shouting,  or  a  quarrel 
breaking  out,  afforded  prospects  of  fun.     It  was  altogether,  how- 


DUBLIN.  533 

ever,  a  disgusting  exhibition  of  poverty  and  vice,  from  which  the 
spectator  could  derive  amusement  no  longer  than  he  forgot  the 
corrupting  influence  it  exerted  upon  the  morals  of  the  people. 

On  our  return  to  town,  we  visited  the  churches  of  the  Irish  cap- 
ital. Of  these  the  principal,  as  its  name  imports,  is  St.  Pat- 
rick's, originally  a  Catholic  cathedral,  but  with  the  same  pious 
disregard  to  rights  of  property  and  of  conscience,  which  distin- 
guished the  conduct  of  the  reformers,  in  too  many  instances,  sub- 
sequently appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  protestant  diocesan. 
The  historians  of  Dublin  enlarge  greatly  upon  the  ancient  mag- 
nificence of  this  church.  It  is  said  that  before  it  changed  masters, 
the  choir  was  covered  with  a  curious  stone  roof,  of  an  azure 
-color,  inlaid  with  stars  of  gold,  and  that  the  cathedral  was  so 
large  that  it  contained  more  than  one  hundred  windows.  This 
ancient  glory  has  departed,  but  St.  Patrick's  is  nevertheless  an 
interesting  monument  of  ancient  ecclesiastical  wealth  and  mag- 
nificence. That  part  of  the  cathedral  which  yet  remains  entire,  is 
three  hundred  feet  long  and  eighty  feet  broad.  It  consists  of  a 
nave,  choir,  and  transept.  The  latter  is  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
seven  feet  long,  and  contains  the  chapter-house  and  a  church, 
for  the  accommodation  of  a  congregation  distinct  from  that  of  the 
•cathedral,  and  called  the  church  of  St.  Nicholas  without.  The 
•cathedral  has  a  tower  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  high,  contain- 
ing a  fine  chime  of  bells,  and  surmounted  by  a  stone  spire  one 
hundred  and  three  feet  in  height,  so  that  the  whole  height  of  the 
steeple  is  two  hundred  and  twenty-three  feet. 

The  choir  is  arched  with  a  ground  stucco  roof,  which  is  deco- 
rated with  the  titles  and  banners  of  the  knights  of  St.  Patrick, 
suspended  upon  small  staves  from  the  wall.  Here  is  the  throne 
of  the  archbishop,  or  primate,  of  Ireland.  It  is  made  of  Irish  oak. 
The  same  material  has  been  used  for  the  construction  of  the  stalls 
of  the  dignitaries  of  the  church.  The  choir  contains  several  mon- 
uments of  great  antiquity,  and  curious  construction.  One  of 
these  bears  an  inscription  to  the  memory  of  Richard  Boyle,  earl 
of  Cork,  and  was  erected  in  1631.  It  is  built  of  stone,  and  is  not 
less  than  twenty-five  feet  in  height,  and  presents  upon  a  succes- 
sive series  of  elevations,  carved  in  rude  stone,  the  effigies  of  that 
nobleman  in  a  reclining  posture,  and  of  sixteen  of  his  family,  some 
standing,  some  sitting  and  reading,  and  others  kneeling  in  the 
attitude  of  prayer  around  him.     How  grotesque  these  figures  are 


534:  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

you  may  possibly  imagine,  when  I  mention  that  they  have  for 
drapery  the  costumes  of  that  age,  and  are  executed  with  all  that 
rudeness  which  distinguished  the  art  of  sculpture  at  the  period  in 
which  those  persons  lived.  There  are  many  similar  monuments* 
but  one  must  suffice  to  give  you  an  idea  of  the  whole. 

In  the  choir  is  also  a  plain  black  marble  slab,  with  an  inscrip- 
tion from  the  pen  of  Dean  Swift,  in  commemoration  of  the  duke 
of  Schomburg,  a  German  prince,  who  fell  at  the  battle  of  the 
Boyne.  In  the  choir  is  suspended  a  cannon-ball,  which  is  shown 
to  all  travellers  as  the  identical  instrument  by  which  Saint  Ruth> 
a  patron-saint  of  the  nunnery  of  that  name,  was  killed.  Upon 
this  point  my  guide-book  contradicts  the  authorities  of  the 
church,  and  maintains  that  it  is  the  ball  which  killed  Adam 
Loftres,  Yiscount  Lisburne.  It  is  not  for  me  to  decide  upon  so 
grave  a  question  of  history.  But  whether  the  one  or  the  other 
be  correct,  it  is  a  veritable  cannon-ball,  and  is  a  singular  orna- 
ment for  a  Protestant  church. 

In  the  nave  of  the  cathedral  are  several  splendid  monuments, 
in  memory  of  prelates  of  the  churches,  but  I  passed  them  all  to 
read  that  which  is  erected  over  the  ashes  of  the  gifted,  learned, 
and  eccentric  Swift.  It  is  a  plain  slab  of  marble,  with  a  bust,  said 
to  be  a  good  likeness.  The  inscription  was  written  by  the  dean 
himself.  On  the  next  pillar  is  a  tablet  in  memory  of  Mrs.  John- 
son, his  friend,  celebrated  in  his  writings  under  the  name  of 
Stella ;  and  upon  a  pillar  near  the  entrance,  is  a  tablet  erected 
by  Swift,  to  the  memory  of  Alexander  M'Gee,  an  old  and  faith- 
ful servant,  whose  domestic  virtues  are  recorded  in  an  epitaph 
written  by  the  dean.  After  these  interesting  tombs,  you  will 
not  expect  me  to  dwell  upon  more  expensive  monuments,  which 
cover  meaner  dust.  I  take  leave  of  St.  Patrick's,  after  mention- 
ing that,  according  to  tradition,  it  occupies  the  site  of  a  parochial 
church,  said  to  have  been  founded  by  the  great  patron  saint  him- 
self. 

I  have  so  many  times  adverted  to  the  poverty  and  mendicity 
of  the  lower  class  of  the  inhabitants  of  Dublin,  that  I  should 
leave  in  your  mind  an  unjust  idea  of  the  higher  classes,  were  I 
to  omit  to  mention  the  numerous  hospitals  and  charities  of  the 
city.  These  have  been  provided,  as  is  believed,  upon  a  scale 
commensurate  with  the  number  of  persons  actually  deserving,  or 
rather  in  need,  of  public  relief,  and  with  the  most  careful  adapta- 


DUBLIN.  535 

tion  to  the  situation  of  each  class  of  unfortunate  objects  of  pub- 
lic charity.  Among  them  we  particularly  observed  two  extensive 
institutions  which  reflect  great  credit  upon  the  munificence  of  the 
city.  One  of  these  is  the  Old  Man's  House,  a  very  large  hospital 
for  the  reception  of  superannuated  men ;  another  is  the  Magda- 
lene, which  is  said  to  have  been  instrumental  in  reclaiming,  and 
restoring  to  usefulness  and  happiness,  a  great  number  of  females. 

We  had  a  great  solicitude  to  see  Newgate,  the  prison  of  Em- 
met and  Fitzgerald.  We  found  the  keeper  a  very  communica- 
tive person,  who  with  pleasure  showed  us  all  the  apartments. 
This  prison  exhibited  a  sorry  commentary  upon  the  state  of 
society  in  Ireland.  In  the  debtors'  apartment,  were  a  great 
number  of  persons  suffering,  by  duress,  for  debts  which  can 
not  be  extinguished  by  years  of  slavery.  In  another  row  of 
apartments  were  young  men  and  boys  confined  for  petty 
offences  of  shop-lifting.  These  had  a  yard,  and  were  enjoying 
athletic  sports,  apparently  free  from  regret  and  remorse.  The 
keeper  assured  us,  that  offenders  of  this  description  have  a  regu- 
lar progress,  being  committed  to  prison  for  brawls  in  the  streets ; 
soon  afterward  for  petit  larcenies ;  and  finally  they  are  either 
executed  or  transported  for  more  grave  offences.  In  another 
department  of  the  prison  were  an  equal  number  of  females,  evi- 
dently hardened  in  infamy,  who  had  commenced  the  same  career. 
The  number  of  persons  convicted  at  every  term  of  the  court  as- 
tonished us.  The  keeper  then  conducted  us  to  the  prison  occu- 
pied by  the  unfortunate  Emmet,  whose  course  we  followed  from 
his  cell  under  the  subterranean  path,  to  the  dock  in  the  court- 
room. The  recollection  of  his  speech  to  the  judge  when  asked  if 
he  had  anything  to  offer  why  the  sentence  of  death  should  not 
be  passed  upon  him,  brought  the  whole  affecting  scene  to  our 
view.  Such  was  the  melancholy  fate  of  a  martyr  of  liberty, 
who,  had  the  sacred  cause  been  successful,  would  have  taken 
rank  with  the  idolized  deliverers  of  nations. 

The  keeper  showed  us  the  place  of  public  execution,  which  is 
in  character  with  the  gloomy  and  heartless  adjustment  of  every- 
thing that  appertains  to  a  system  of  capital  punishments  for 
ordinary  crimes.  In  the  second  story  of  the  prison,  is  a  little 
chapel,  with  a  door  opening  to  the  street.  Here  the  convicts 
are  attended  by  the  clergymen.  At  the  appointed  hour  they  are 
required  to  walk  out,  with  ropes  upon  their  necks,  upon  a  nar- 


536  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

row  iron  platform,  or  balustrade,  the  floor  of  which,  on  the  mere 
turning  of  a  crank,  drops,  and  leaves  the  wretches  suspended 
over  the  heads  of  the  populace.  Four  convicts  are  often  exe- 
cuted in  this  manner  at  the  same  instant. 

We  had  many  reasons  to  be  grateful  to  the  keeper  of  the  prison 
for  his  politeness  in  showing  us  everything  which  could  possibly 
interest  us.  Although  he  appeared  to  be  well  informed  and  a 
highly  respectable  person,  we  had  been  long  enough  in  Great 
Britain  to  understand  that  he  would  not  deem  himself  insulted 
by  the  offer  of  a  douceur.  We,  as  a  matter  of  course,  offered 
him  two  shillings.  "  Oh,  no"  said  he,  "  I  do  n't-  expect  anything 
for  showing  to  strangers  whatever  they  may  desire  to  see."  I 
was  putting  the  money  into  my  pocket,  when  the  keeper  relented 
and  said,  "  If  you  have  a  mind  to  give  anything,  I  don't  object 
to  receive  it."  He  had  not  virtue  enough  to  distinguish  himself 
from  the.  occupants  of  other  public  places,  who  levy  such  enor- 
mous taxes  upon  the  traveller  as  to  prevent  many  continental 
and  American  tourists  from  visiting  Great  Britain. 

It  was  our  intention  to  spend  another  day  in  Dublin,  but  -we 
find  it  will  be  out  of  our  power  to  obtain  seats  in  the  diligence 
for  two  or  three  days,  unless  we  take  our  leave  this  evening. 

Again  I  subscribe  myself,  sincerely  and  affectionately,  yours. 


LETTER  V. 

DEPARTURE  FROM  DUBLIN BELFAST,  &C. 

Glasgow,  June  30,  1833. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  The  mail-coaches  in  Ireland  form  an  exception 
to  the  description  I  gave  in  a  former  letter  of  the  tattered  and 
slovenly  diligences  of  that  country.  At  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon of  the  26th,  our  luggage  was  stowed  away  in  the  receptacle 
of  the  mail-coach  for  Belfast.  I  mounted  on  the  exterior  in  front, 
upon  the  end  of  the  seat  directly  in  rear  of  the  driver.  Two  char- 
acteristic incidents  occurred  before  we  set  out  upon  our  journey. 
A  poor  woman  appeared  at  the  side  of  the  coach,  begging  us  in 
the  name  of  sweet  charity  to  buy  of  her  some  dressed  sheep-skins 
and  sponges.  While  I  was  hesitating  whether  it  were  better  to 
make  a  matter  of  traffic  in  these  articles  for  which  I  could  not 


DEPARTURE  FROM  DUBLIN.  537 

divine  any  particular  use  to  myself,  or  to  give  a  douceur  at  once 
to  the  unfortunate  vender,  the  attendants  at  the  coach-office  rude- 
ly drove  her  away  with  the  whip-lash.  No  person  present  remon- 
strated against,  or  seemed  shocked  by,  this  inhumanity. 

Owing  to  the  difficulty  and  danger  of  sleeping  on  the  outside 
of  the  coach,  the  middle  place  on  the  bench,  of  which  I  occupied 
a  seat  at  the  end,  is  preferred.     A  young  Irishman,  of  slovenly 
though  not  mean  appearance,  appropriated  this  preferred  place. 
Some  few  minutes   afterward,  another  passenger   arrived   and 
claimed  the  place,  by  reason  of  having  first  engaged  it.     Paddy, 
however,  not  only  maintained  his  right,  on  the  ground  of  prior 
occupancy,  but  alleged  that  it  was  indispensably  necessary  on 
account  of  his  health.     He  averred  that  he  had  travelled  all  the 
previous  night,  and  was  unwell,  and  was  an  invalid  into  the 
bargain,  and  finally  swore  he  would  not  surrender  the  place. 
Convinced  by  one,  or  all  these  cogent  arguments,  the  competitor 
retired,  and  Paddy  turning  to  me  said — "to  be  sure  it's  all  the 
same  thing ;  it 's  not  for  me  that  the  place  is,  but  for  my  master, 
who  is  a  young  collegian  of  Trinity,  who  is  as  fine  a  gentleman 
as  I  ever  saw,  and  is  returning  home  to  spend  the  vacation ;  but 
I  am  his  servant,  and  in  his  shoes,  you  see,  and  so  it's  the  same 
thing  whether  its  me  or  him  that  is  going."     I  asked  where  his 
master  had  been  travelling  the  previous  night.     "  Oh,"  he  said, 
"it  wasn't  just  travelling  that  his  master  was,  but  he  and  a  num- 
ber of  his  companions  had  had  a  spree  like,  the  night  before,  and 
kept  it  up  all  night ;  which  to  be  sure  was  just  the  same  thing  as 
if  he  had  been  travelling."     I  told  him  I  regretted  to  hear  that 
his  master  was  in  a  bad  state  of  health,  and  that  it  must  be  very 
difficult  as  well  as  imprudent  to  pursue  his  studies.     "  Oh,"  re- 
plied Paddy,  "one's  in  a  bad  state  of  health,  you  know,  always 
after  such  a  spree  like,  but  my  master  in  the  main  is  as  fine  and 
stout  a  looking  young  gentleman  as  you  '11  find,  and  besides  that, 
he  is  the  best  scholar  in  all  Trinity."     While  I  thought  that  the 
young  collegian's  claims  to  scholarship  were  somewhat  doubtful, 
so  far  as  they  rested  upon  the  evidence  of  his  valet,  I  could  not 
but  be  amused  at  the  versatility  with  which  the  latter  coined 
falsehoods  to  serve  him.     When  the  student  took  his  place,  he 
proved  to  be  a  tall,  athletic  youth  of  about  twenty,  whose  health 
seemed  quite  unimpaired  by  either  the  labors  of  the  lamp,  or 
nocturnal  dissipation. 


538  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE 

All  being  ready,  our  coachman  drove  us  under  an  arched  gate- 
way, into  the  court  of  the  general  post-office,  where  I  counted  ten 
post-coaches  ready  to  depart  at  the  same  instant.  The  guard  as- 
signed to  each,  dressed  in  a  red  uniform,  appeared,  deposited  the 
mail-bag  in  a  box  before  him,  and  a  pair  of  large  pistols  in  an- 
other, took  his  seat  in  the  rear,  sounded  his  bugle,  and  the  several 
coaches,  precisely  at  half  after  four,  set  out  for  their  respective 
destinations  in  remote  parts  of  the  island. 

If  I  have  found  no  reason  for  qualifying  my  admiration  of  the 
splendor  of  the  buildings,  public  and  private,  in  Dublin,  I  have 
as  little  reason  to  qualify  my  expressions  of  astonishment  at  the 
sudden  transition  from  the  palaces  and  costly  abodes  of  the  town,, 
to  the  miserable  mud  walls,  and  thatched  roofs  of  the  country. 
Unlike  the  vicinity  of  other  great  cities,  the  country  into  which  we 
passed,  instead  of  exhibiting  beautiful  villas,  country-seats,  and 
cottages,  was  the  abode  of  poverty  and  wretchedness.  At  first, 
the  dwellings  we  passed  were  built  of  stone,  divided  into  apart- 
ments, and  covered  with  thatch,  but  after  a  few  miles  they  were 
of  mud,  with  mud  roofs,  and  divided  only  by  a  bar  or  gate-way 
into  the  different  compartments  allotted  to  the  family,  and  the 
cow  and  swine.  The  dwellings,  instead  of  being  placed  at  small 
distances  from  each  other,  and  thus  relieving  the  monotony  of  the 
road,  were  clustered  into  little  hamlets,  and  the  intervening  dis- 
tances exhibited  the  appearance  of  a  rich  and  fruitful  country,, 
monopolized  by  lords,  and  from  which  the  people  were  excluded. 
The  country  through  which  we  passed  is  the  most  fertile  and 
beautiful  part  of  Ireland,  and  the  population  we  saw  in  these 
miserable  abodes  are  the  most  comfortable,  enlightened,  and 
happy  of  the  peasantry.  So  say  all  travellers,  and  so  said  my 
stage-coach  companions.  Heaven  knows  what  must  be  the  con- 
dition of  the  people  in  the  other  parts  of  Ireland.  I  wonder  no 
longer  when  I  read  the  accounts  of  political  agitation,  of  robbery, 
and  violence,  nor  when  I  witness  the  crowds  of  unhappy  immigrants 
who  throng  our  shores.  The  season  in  which  we  made  our  hasty 
excursion  in  Ireland,  was  favorable  to  our  object  of  seeing  the 
country.  I  am  sure  there  can  be  no  more  fertile  land  on  earth. 
Harassed  as  its  soil  is,  with  the  continued  cultivation  necessary 
to  support  a  population  of  more  than  eight  millions,  it  is  covered 
with  the  most  luxurious  crops  of  grain  and  grass,  and  affords  the 
prospect  of  an  abundant  harvest.     But  to  return  again  to  the 


IRELAND'S  WRONGS.  539 

painful  subject.  What  a  lesson  is  here  furnished  of  the  tendency 
of  society  to  abuse  and  pervert  the  blessings  of  a  munificent 
providence.  All,  all  without  exception,  of  this  beautiful  country  y 
is  subdivided  into  immense  patrimonial  estates,  belonging  to  the 
nobility ;  the  land  is  far  more  imperfectly  tilled  by  the  laboring 
peasantry  for  the  benefit  of  the  proprietors,  than  it  would  be  were 
they  like  American  farmers,  laboring  for  their  own  benefit,  and 
with  the  hope  of  accumulation  for  their  families.  While  the 
aristocracy  are  rolling  in  wealth,  and  flying  to  London,  or  to  the 
continent,  to  waste  the  avails  of  the  industry  of  the  peasantry, 
the  latter  live  in  abject  poverty,  denied  not  only  the  many  luxu- 
ries which  in  our  land  are  called  comforts,  but  even  the  necessary 
protection  from  inclement  weather,  decent  clothing,  and  proper 
food,  not  to  mention  their  exclusion  from  all  the  advantages 
of  education.  The  people  of  the  country,  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, are  invariably  barefoot,  and  dressed  in  the  most  tattered, 
filthy  habiliments.  I  soon  discovered,  that  my  fellow-travellers, 
accustomed  to  the  spectacle  which  was  so  painful  to  me,  were  also 
accustomed  to  regard  these  miserable  people  as  a  degraded  caste. 
A  young  man  who  was,  as  I  had  reason  to  believe,  a  thriving 
mechanic  in  the  city,  was  a  whig,  and  was  in  favor,  of  course,  of 
the  English  ministry,  and  of  the  bill  for  the  reform  of  the  Irish 
church  now  pending  in  parliament.  Even  he  asserted  the  impos- 
sibility of  the  Irish  people's  sustaining  a  government,  even  with 
all  the  advantages  of  education  and  poor  laws,  which  he  hoped 
to  see  extended  to  his  country.  He  feared  that  the  ministry 
might  go  too  fast,  and  the  union  with  England  he  regarded  as 
the  ark  of  safety  for  his  country. 

The  young  student,  undoubtedly  a  youth  of  talent,  talked  and 
•  acted  in  such  a  manner  as  to  produce  in  my  mind,  no  very 
favorable  opinion  of  the  tories,  in  which  party  he  had  a  heredi- 
tary interest,  he  being  the  younger  son  of  an  Irish  nobleman. 
To  my  astonishment,  he  unblushingly  deprecated  all  measures 
calculated  to  extend  to  his  country  the  benefits  of  education,  and 
poor-laws,  and  religious  toleration,  as  well  as  an  ultimate  power 
in  Great  Britain,  proportioned  to  her  population.  His  arguments, 
like  those  of  the  leaders  in  the  house  of  lords,  assumed  that  the 
church  of  England  is  the  true  church ;  that  it  could  only  be  main- 
tained by  the  oppression  of  the  Catholic  population  of  Ireland, 
and  he,  though  he  did  not  affect  to  be  a  saint  himself,  was  willing 


•540  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

to  see  his  countrymen  languish  in  their  present  degradation,  rather 
than  hazard  the  safety  of  the  church,  by  educating  them.  In 
accordance  with  these  opinions,  he  lost  no  opportunity  of  insult- 
ing, shouting  at,  and  using  indecent  language  toward  the  peas- 
antry, women,  and  old  men,  as  well  as  others  whom  we  passed. 
A  stale  jest,  a  vulgar  oath,  or  an  obscene  allusion,  when  he  could 
see  that  it  was  understood  by  those  whose  feelings  it  was  intended 
to  outrage,  afforded  great  mirth  to  him  and  the  coachman,  and, 
I  am  sorry  to  add,  to  the  whig  also.  But  a  young  Scottish  gen- 
tleman, who  had  travelled  in  America,  and  had  no  fears  from  the 
-extension  of  all  the  blessings  of  education  and  civil  and  religious 
liberty  to  the  Irish  people,  united  with  me  in  expostulating 
against  the  insults  offered  by  this  sprig  of  nobility  to  the  peas- 
antry, and  condemned  his  conduct  and  that  of  his  associates, 
as  no  less  insulting  to  us,  than  unworthy  of  the  pretensions  of  a 
gentleman. 

At  the  little  village  of  Fingal,  distant  a  few  miles  from  Dublin, 
we  saw  a  tall  pine  pole  so  much  resembling  the  liberty-poles  so 
common  in  our  country,  that  we  inquired  the  design  of  it.  The 
answer  was,  that  it  was  a  May  pole,  and  that  a  festival  is  always 
celebrated  here  on  May-day.  A  little  further  onward,  at  a  vil- 
lage, the  name  of  which  I  have  forgotten,  was  the  celebration  of 
the  annual  races.  It  is  no  more  than  just  to  say,  that  the  scene 
-exhibited  an  appearance  of  mure  extensive  and  licentious  dissi- 
pation than  characterize  similar  gatherings  in  our  own  country, 
and  the  feature  which  most  disgusted  me,  was  the  great  con- 
course of  females,  apparently  of  all  grades,  who  attended  as  spec- 
tators. At  intervals  of  a  few  miles  we  passed  parks  having  a 
superb  portal  leading  through  groves  of  shade-trees,  to  the  houses 
<of  nobility  and  gentry.  Our  young  tory  was  particularly  well- 
informed  concerning  the  proprietors  of  these  estates,  and  it  is 
doing  him  no  more  than  justice  to  say,  that  in  his  discussion  upon 
the  taste  displayed  in  the  ornaments  of  the  parks,  lie  was  very 
correct  and  judicious.  We  passed  the  ruins  of  several  castles, 
some  of  which  were  overgrown  with  ivy;  others  presented  only 
a  broken  tower,  and  others  merely  a  heap  of  rubbish.  Of  Don- 
leavy  castle,  which  was  stormed  and  sacked  in  1400,  only  a  tower 
is  standing,  surrounded  by  rubbish  in  the  midst  of  a  fertile  field. 
By  the  side  of  the  road  is  a  cross,  forming  part  of  an  ancient 
chapel,  and  it  is  supposed  by  many  of  the  peasantry  to  possess 


DROGIIED  A— BELFAST.  541 

miraculous  power.  Before  the  night  closed  in  upon  us,  w& 
crossed  the  field  of  the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  celebrated  in  the 
melancholy  history  of  Ireland,  for  the  destruction  of  the  Catholic 
power,  under  James  II.,  and  the  establishment  of  the  Protestant 
influence  in  the  hands  of  William  of  Orange.  The  Boyne  water 
is  a  short  distance  north  of  the  battle-ground,  and  though  a  pretty 
little  rivulet,  is  less  imposing  and  beautiful  than  one  would 
expect  who  had  formed  his  ideas  of  it  from  the  songs  of  the  Irish 
bards. 

Drogheda  is  a  town  of  fifteen  thousand  inhabitants,  having  nar- 
row and  convenient  streets,  but  possesses  numerous  and  extensive- 
manufactories  of  Irish  linen.  Drogheda  is  destined  to  immor- 
tality as  the  birth-place  of  the  duke  of  Wellington.  Morington 
castle  is  situated  at  the  mouth  of  the  Boyne,  within  a  short  dis- 
tance from  the  town. 

About  midnight,  we  were  surprised  to  meet  several  parties  of 
peasantry,  principally  women,  and  many  of  them  in  a  state  of 
intoxication,  but  the  mystery  was  solved  when  we  approached 
one  of  the  little  villages,  which  was  illuminated  with  blazing  turf 
fires,  and  torches,  and  the .  company,  with  music,  songs,  and 
whiskey,  were  celebrating  the  wake  around  the  corpse  of  one  of 
their  neighbors.  Our  route  lay  through  Newry,  Dundalk,  and 
Hillsborough,  all  of  which  are  important  towns  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  Irish  linen ;  but  the  two  latter,  which  were  all  that  I  had 
an  opportunity  to  see,  presented  in  their  old  and  thriftless  appear- 
ance, a  strong  contrast  to  the  flourishing  manufacturing  villages 
in  America. 

In  crossing  the  mountains  of  Morne,  we  had  an  oj)portunity  of 
seeing  large  tracts  of  heather  or  furze,  which  are  unsusceptible 
of  tillage,  and  which  furnish  peat,  the  fuel  in  general  use  in  Ire- 
land, in  inexhaustible  quantities,  and  at  a  very  cheap  rate.  This 
turf  or  peat  is  the  soil  extending  to  a  depth  of  six  or  seven  feet, 
perfectly  saturated  wTith  water,  and  what  is  most  surprising,  is 
always  found  upon  mountainous  ground. 

Ireland,  although  possessing  a  milder  and  clearer  climate,  and 
a  richer  soil,  is  far  less  beautiful  to  the  eye  of  the  traveller  than 
England  ;  because  it  wants  the  evidence  everywhere  observed 
in  England,  of  a  contented  and  comfortable  laboring  people.  The- 
face  of  the  country  is  destitute,  not  only  of  natural  forest,  but  of 
groves,  shade  trees,  and  hedges. 


542  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

It  was  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  27th  day  of  June, 
when  we  arrived  at  Belfast,  which  we  were  agreeably  surprised 
to  find  a  very  handsome,  and  comparatively  modern  town,  exhib- 
iting all  the  indications  of  a  vigorous  commerce.  We  spent 
several  hours  in  rambling  through  the  streets,  and  taking  note  of 
the  more  important  objects  and  institutions.  The  exchange  and 
reading-room  are  upon  a  scale  commensurate  with  the  commer- 
cial importance  of  the  town.  The  churches,  mostly  modern,  are 
of  very  respectable  order,  though  offering  nothing  worthy  of 
particular  remark.  A  considerable  part  of  the  town  belongs  to 
the  Marquis  of  Donegal,  one  of  the  representative  Irish  peers  in 
parliament,  who,  although  constantly  experiencing  the  rapid 
advance  of  his  property  in  value,  still,  we  were  told,  finds  his 
wants  exceed  his  income.  The  hereditary  rights  of  this  noble- 
man retard  the  advancement  and  prosperity  of  this  town.  He 
derives  a  great  monopoly  from  the  exertions  and  enterprise  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  yet  his  swelling  revenues  are  insufficient  to  sup- 
port his  rank  as  a  peer  of  the  realm  at  London. 

At  this  point  of  bidding  adieu  to  Ireland,  let  me  take  leave  of 
vou.     My  letters  to  F will  inform  you  of  our  further  progress. 


LETTER  VL 

GLASGOW MONUMENTS    OF  SIR   JOHN   MOORE   AND   JAMES  WATT. 

Glasgow,  June  30,   1833. 

My  Dear  F :  At  3  o'clock  P.  M.  on  the  28th,  we  embarked 

at  Belfast,  on  board  the  steamboat  The  Maid-of-Islay,  for  Glas- 
gow. Short  as  our  stay  was  in  Ireland,  how  much  have  we  seen 
of  what  is  necessary  to  understand  the  deplorable  situation  of 
that  country,  and  of  the  distress  which  forces  its  people  into  exile  ! 

We  have  been  thus  far  most  agreeably  disappointed  in  our 
examination  of  Glasgow.  We  had  anticipated  finding  it  a  dull, 
gloomy,  and  uninteresting  spot;  but  we  have  experienced  much 
hospitality,  and  found  the  town  possessing  much  classic  interest. 
I  am  sure  it  must  be  my  own  fault  if  I  do  not  make  my  journal 
interesting  to  you. 

Upon  the  opposite  side  of  St.  George's  park,  from  our  windows, 


GLASGOW.  543 

is  a  colossal  bronze  statue,  surmounting  a  granite  pedestal.  It 
bears  the  following  simple- but  sufficient  inscription: — 

"To  commemorate  the  military  services  of 

Lieutenant- General  Sir  John  Moore,  Native  of  Glasgow, 

His  fellow-citizens  have  erected  this  monument, 

1819." 

Although  it  was  grateful  to  our  feelings  to  see  this  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  the  brave  soldier,  we  could  not  but  remark  how  far 
sculpture  falls  short  of  poetry  in  perpetuating  the  memory  of 
the  dead.  Few  persons  who  have  not  visited  Glasgow  are  aware 
•of  the  erection  of  this  monument :  but  where  is  the  man  of  educa- 
tion or  taste,  in  the  civilized  world,  to  whom  the  beautiful  lines 
upon  "  the  burial  of  Sir  John  Moore,"  have  not  made  familiar 
the  fame  of  the  hero  of  the  peninsula  ? 

At  the  western  corner  of  the  same  square  is  a  monument  with- 
out inscription,  and  consisting,  likewise,  of  a  bronze  statue  and 
granite  pedestal,  in  memory  of  James  Watt,  from  whose  grasp 
our  countryman,  Fulton,  wrested  the  honor  of  the  discovery  of 
the  application  of  steam  to  navigation.  The  figure  is  colossal, 
is  in  a  sitting  posture,  holding  a  pair  of  compasses,  and  in  the 
attitude  of  laborious  study,  and  is  said  to  be  so  correct  a  resem- 
blance, that  an  inscription  is  unnecessary.  In  America,  we  are 
accustomed  to  call  the  Scottish  people  penurious.  But  what 
American,  when  looking  at  this  monument,  will  not  blush  for  the 
ingratitude  of  his  country !  Glasgow  has  erected  a  statue  in 
memory  of  the  humble  mechanic  who  spent  twenty  years  of 
laborious  research  in  investigating  the  great  problem,  and  only 
fell  short  of  the  grand  discovery.  Fulton,  whose  genius  accom- 
plished the  great  work,  and  bestowed  the  honor  upon  his  coun- 
try—  Fulton,  who  completed  a  discovery  which  has  contributed 
and  is  destined  to  contribute  so  much  to  the  prosperity  and 
power  of  the  United  States  —  sleeps  in  an  unhonored  grave,  and 
his  children  suffer  want  in  the  midst  of  millions  of  wealth  created 
by  his  genius ! 

The  engrossing  theme  of  conversation  in  all  political  circles  is 
the  pending  discussion,  in  parliament,  of  the  bill  for  the  reform 
of  the  church  in  Ireland,  the  bishops  having  expressed  a  very 
decided  opposition  to  the  bill,  which  is  a  favorite  measure  with 
the  whig  ministry.  Their  conduct,  as  you  will  have  learned,  has 
drawn  the  attention  of  the  king,  as  the  head  of  the  church.  The 
people  here  are  very  much  excited  on  the  subject.     Numerous 


5M  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

addresses  to  parliament,  praying  the  passage  of  the  bill,  are  held 
in  the  reading-rooms  for  signatures.  A  placard  at  every  corner 
of  the  streets  announces  the  meeting  of  a  society  called  a  polit- 
ical union,  at  which  the  question  will  be  discussed,  "  Ought 
bishops  to  have  a  seat  in  parliament  ?"  This  is  going  to  a  most 
essential  reform  in  the  British  constitution,  and  no  American  can 
avoid  hoping  it  may  speedily  take  place.  But  I  have  been  sur- 
prised to  see  how  few  advocates  so  valuable  a  reform  has,  even 
among  those  who  consider  themselves  liberalists.  I  am  abun- 
dantly satisfied  that  if  I  were  an  inhabitant  of  Great  Britain, 
with  my  present  views  of  the  politics  of  the  nation,  I  should 
be  a  radical.  I  think,  although  as  yet  perhaps  I  ought  not  to 
express  an  opinion,  we  are  very  much  deceived  in  America,  in 
relation  to  the  views  and  feelings  of  the  whigs.  They  have,  as 
between  them  and  the  tories  they  are  entitled  to  have,  all  our 
sympathies  and  good  wishes ;  but  we  deceive  ourselves  when 
we  think  that  the  whigs  contemplate  nearly  or  remotely  the 
establishment  of  republican  institutions,  or  the  separation  of  the 
anomalous  connection  between  church  and  state.  No.  O'Con- 
nell  and  Cobbett,  and  their  coadjutors,  are  right,  at  least,  in  say1- 
ing  that  the  whigs  have  been  but  tories  seeking  places,  and  that 
now  they  have  attained  power,  they  will  continue  to  assimilate 
toward  those  whom  they  have  ejected.  But  into  what  a  digres- 
sion have  I  strayed,  merely  from  an  accidental  allusion  to  a 
placard  upon  the  corner  of  the  street. 

Glasgow  has  two  principal  streets  which  cross  each  other  at 
right  angles.  By  following  these  streets,  the  tourist  obtains  with 
facility  a  view  of  the  most  important  objects,  as  well  as  a  pretty 
correct  idea  of  the  tout  ensemble  of  the  city.  The  more  important 
of  the  two  is  that  which  runs  nearly  east  and  west,  and  in  different 
parts  of  the  town  bears  the  different  names  of  Gallowgate,  Tron- 
gate,  and  Argyle.  This  street  is  about  eighty  feet  wide  and  two 
miles  long.  The  other  principal  street,  called  in  its  different  parts 
High  street,  Kirk  street,  and  Castle  street,  is  about  one  mile  long 

and  fifty  feet  wide.     Our  friend,  Mr.  L- ,  was  so  obliging  as  to 

traverse  these  streets  with  us,  and  we  derived  great  aid  from  his 
attentions.  Being  a  native  of  the  city,  he  is  familiarly  acquainted 
with  every  part  of  it.  Glasgow  has  no  unity  of  aspect.  It  con- 
sist of  two  parts  very  different  from  each  other.  The  new  town, 
where  the  important  mercantile  business  is  transacted,  and  where 


GLASGOW.  545 

the  dwellings  of  the  more  wealthy  inhabitants  are  situated,  is 
built  in  a  comparatively  modern  and  very  handsome  style,  with 
stone  houses  three  and  four  stories  in  height,  and  has  spacious 
and  pleasant  streets  and  public  squares.     The  old  town,  consist- 
ing of  immense  buildings,  five,  six,  seven,  and  even  eight  stories 
high,  upon  narrow  streets  and  courts,  or  passages,  has  been  aban- 
doned by  those  whose  circumstances  permit  them  to  indulge 
their  choice  of  residence,  and  is,  although  very  interesting  from 
its  antiquity,  a  scene  of  much  filth  and  wretchedness.     The  dif- 
ference in  appearance  of  the  people  one  meets  in  these  two  great 
parts  of  the  town,  arrests  the  attention  of  the  traveller  at  once. 
In  the  one  he  sees  a  population  very  plainly  but  comfortably 
dressed,  without  any  display  of  style,  or  equipage,  or  fashion, 
all  apparently  composed  and  pursuing  their  occupations  with 
industry  and  perseverance,  but  without  anxiety.     In  the  other, 
although  he  does  not  meet,  as  in   Dublin,  persons  exhibiting 
squalid  poverty  and  drunkenness,  he  finds  the  streets  thronged 
with  men,  women,  and  children,  meanly  dressed,  and  the  women, 
particularly,  barefooted  and  bareheaded.     The  difference  in  dia- 
lect also  attracts  bis  attention.     In  the  former,  although  he  finds 
the  broad  Scottish  accent  which  he  may  have  heard  used  by 
emigrants  in  his  own  country,  he  will  find  the  English  language 
spoken  with  great  purity  of  expression,  and  only  distinguished 
by  the  intonation  I  have  mentioned,  from  that  which  is  spoken  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  island  and  in  the  United  States.     In  the 
other,  he  will  find  the  same  intonation  so  much  broader,  and 
the  use  of  so  many  of  the  ancient  Scottish  words  still  remain- 
ing, that  he  will  often  be  at  a  loss  in  the  first  instance  to  com- 
prehend what  is  said  to  him.      In  other  and  more  important 
particulars,  however,  he  will   find   an  entire   agreement.      He 
will  find  the  people  deeply  imbued  with  a  sense  of  religious 
obligation,  and  he  will  also  discover  that  the  circumstances  of 
his  being  a  foreigner,  instead  of  being  regarded  as  a  justification 
for  rapacity  and  mendicity  among  the  lower  classes,  commends 
him  to  the  attention  and  kindness  of  all.     Ask  a  Scotchman  the 
way  to  a  church  or  a  street,  and  he  will  go  with  you  to  show  it 
to  you,  and  will  decline  all  compensation  for  the  favor ;  whereas 
in  England  or  Ireland,  your  informant,  if  respectable,  will  con- 
tent himself  with  pointing  the  way,  and,  if  of  the  lower  class,, 
will  demand  an  exorbitant  price  for  the  courtesy.     The  stranger 
Yol.  III.— 35 


546  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

will  also  discover,  all  around  him,  the  evidence  that  he  is  among 
an  educated  and  reading  community,  where  the  humblest  citizen 
is  instructed  in  the  history  and  classic  romance  of  his  country. 

The  cathedral  was  the  scene  of  many  of  the  labors  of  the 
intrepid  and  severe  reformer,  John  Knox.  It  is  said  that  great 
efforts  were  made  to  destroy  it  by  the  zealous  and  bigoted  reform- 
ers who  spared  no  similar  monument  in  all  Scotland.  The  fact 
is  asserted,  and  though  it  is  disputed,  I  think  it  is  well  sustained, 
that  the  reformers  determined  upon  its  destruction  under  the 
instigation  of  the  celebrated  Andrew  Melville,  who  preached  the 
performance  of  this  Yandal  work  as  a  sacred  duty.  The  reform- 
ers were  assembled  for  the  purpose,  but  were  prevented  from 
accomplishing  it  by  the  opposition  of  the  craftsmen  and  burgh- 
ers of  the  city,  and  a  suspension  was  agreed  upon  until  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  queen  could  be  made  known.  Elizabeth  saved  the 
cathedral,  by  declaring  that  enough  of  destruction  had  been 
committed.  But  there  yet  remains  to  be  described  what  adds 
greatly  to  the  interest  of  the  spot.  Upon  an  eminence  at  the 
right  of  the  spectator,  still  higher  than  the  site  of  the  cathedral, 
and  which,  together  with  the  intervening  ground,  is  occupied  as 
a  cemetery,  stands  a  colossal  statue  of  John  Knox,  surmounting  a 
Doric  column  fifty-eight  feet  in  height,  from  the  summit  of  which 
the  founder  of  the  kirk  of  Scotland  seems  to  look  down  with 
affection  upon  the  scene  of  his  labors,  and  the  resting-place  of 
his  associates. 

On  the  next  morning  after  our  visit  to  the  cathedral,  we  took 
breakfast  with  the  American  consul  and  his  agreeable  family.  We 
found  them  all  American  in  their  associations  and  preferences. 
After  breakfast,  Mr.  Thompson  directed  the  servant  to  bring  some 
oaten-bread,  that  we  might  see  some  of  that  article  which  forms 
so  great  a  part  of  the  sustenance  of  the  population  of  Scotland. 
We  found  here  American  books,  pictures,  and  newspapers ;  and 
after  taking  leave  of  the  hospitable  family,  with  the  expression 
of  the  hope  that  we  should  meet  them  thereafter  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  we  resumed  our  walks  through  the  town. 

The  city  of  Glasgow  was  the  first  in  the  kingdom  which  erected 
a  monument  in  memory  of  Lord  Nelson.  The  monument  stands 
in  the  public  green,  and  consists  of  an  obelisk  one  hundred  and 
forty-three  feet  in  height,  on  the  pedestal  of  which  are  recorded 
the  birth  and  death,  and  the  battles,  of  the  hero  of  Trafalgar. 


GLASGOW.  54:7 

In  the  course  of  the  day  we  visited  the  infirmary,  an  excellent 
and  spacious  hospital,  situated  upon  an  eminence  and  near  to  the 
cathedral.  It  contains  two  hundred  and  fifty  patients.  In  com- 
pany with  our  friend,  Dr.  A ,  one  of  the  consulting  physi- 
cians, we  traversed  every  ward  and  chamber  of  this  interesting 
institution,  which  we  found  was  kept  in  a  style  of  cleanliness, 
order,  and  comfort,  which  we  have  never  seen  excelled.  In 
another  building,  but  connected  with  the  infirmary,  is  the  fever- 
hospital,  which  is  assigned  to  cases  of  disease  which  are  supposed 
to  be  contagious. 

Having  provided  ourselves  with  a  noddy  (as  the  one-horse 
hackney-coach  is  called)  we  paid  a  visit  to  the  lunatic  asylum. 
This  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  institutions  I  have  ever  seen. 
The  edifice  is  constructed  with  great  judgment  in  reference  to 
the  purposes  to  which  it  is  applied.  It  consists  of  four  principal 
buildings  connected  at  the  centre ;  avenues  from  the  centre  trav- 
erse the  whole  length  of  the  chambers.  The  winding  staircase 
in  the  centre  is  a  beautiful  and  curious  piece  of  workmanship. 
Here,  too,  everything  was  arranged  and  conducted  in  the  most 
perfect  order,  silence,  and  cleanliness.  But,  in  several  respects, 
the  science  of  treating  in  this  unfortunate  class  of  cases  has  been 
carried  further  in  America  than  here.  The  superintendent  as- 
sured me  that  the  number  of  cases  cured  here  is  inferior  to  those 
in  the  Hartford  institution,  or  in  Dr.  White's  institution  at  Hud- 
son. He  attributed  the  fact  to  the  circumstance  that  the  patients 
are  not  brought  to  the  European  hospitals  until  they  have  suf- 
fered so  long  under  the  malady  as  to  diminish  the  probability  of 
cure.  Whether  this  is  the  true  reason,  I  have  not  the  necessary 
information  to  determine. 

From  this  institution  we  proceeded  to  the  town  hospital,  where 
are  collected  all  the  squalid  and  miserable  poor,  who  have  nei- 
ther friends  nor  the  requisite  means  to  provide  them  a  place  in 

the  other  institutions.     Dr.  A here  showed  us  an  idiot,  the 

formation  of  whose  head,  according  to  the  theory  of  Spurzheim, 
was  marked  by  all  the  strongest  indications  of  natural  genius 
and  force  of  mind.  He  conducted  us  also  to  a  cell  where  a  luna- 
tic deaf  mute  was  confined.  Let  him  who  is  proud  of  his  person 
and  powers  of  mind,  look  upon  this  miserable  object,  and  ask 
who  it  is  that  has  made  his  lot  so  widely  different  from  the 
wretch  before  him,  more  loathsome  than  the  beast  of  the  field  % 


548  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

"We  dined  in  the  afternoon,  with  our  friend  Dr.  A.,  where  we 
met  a  rich,  pious,  and  benevolent  individual,  who  had  long  been 
a  deacon  in  Dr.  Chalmers'  church,  and  three  other  gentlemen  of 
much  scientific  merit,  one  of  whom  is  a  professor  in  the  univer- 
sity. The  dinner  was  served  in  a  manner  so  similar  to  those  of 
which  I  have  read  in  Scotch  novels,  that  you  will  excuse  me  for 
detailing  the  order.  First  was  the  soup  (called  here  broth)  of 
which  kail  was  a  principal  ingredient.  After  which,  a  dram  of 
whiskey,  without  water.  Turbot  followed,  and  then  another 
dram,  which  "  was  necessary,"  as  the  Scotch  proverb  says,  "  to 
make  the  fish  swim."  Herring  followed  the  turbot,  and  another 
dram  was  "necessary  to  make  the  herring  swim."  After  the 
meats  and  dessert,  the  wine  circulated  a  few  times,  when  the 
great  punch-bowl,  with  the  wooden  spoon  and  the  materials, 
came.  Over  this  beverage  we  discussed  church  and  state,  Cap- 
tain Hall,  and  Mrs.  Trollope,  until  eight  o'clock,  when  we  retired. 
My  fellow-traveller  advanced  the  doctrine,  in  speaking  of  the 
church  of  England,  that  there  ought  not  to  be  in  any  country  an 
established  religion.  Our  religious  friend  admitted  the  doctrine, 
with  an  exception  in  favor  of  the  established  kirk  of  Scotland. 
The  allowance,  however,  of  one  exception  destroys  the  principle. 
Mrs.  Trollope  and  Captain  Hall  have  unquestionably  succeeded 
in  inspiring  a  belief  among  their  countrymen,  that  religion  is  at 
a  very  low  ebb  in  the  United  States,  and  one  can  not  but  smile 
at  the  simplicity  with  which  well-informed  persons  here  cite  our 
country  as  an  evidence  that  it  is  a  ruinous  expedient  to  release 
the  citizen  from  the  political  obligation  to  support  a  national 
church.  You  will  perceive  from  my  account  of  our  dinner-party, 
that  the  temperance  reformation  has  scarcely  commenced  here. 
It  is  still  the  fashion  to  drink  ardent  spirits,  but  I  have  found 
many  persons  who  are  preparing  for  an  essay  to  correct  the  pub- 
lic taste  in  this  respect. 

The  American  consul,  as  is  his  custom,  gives  a  dinner  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  and  has  very  warmly  invited  us  to  remain  ;  but 
we  look  forward  to  the  extent  of  the  journeyings  yet  before  us, 
and  remember  how  short  a  time  we  have  been  able  to  appropri- 
ate to  so  great  a  business,  and  have  therefore  concluded  to  take 
leave  of  Glasgow  to-morrow  morning.  Adieu.  Keep  my  re- 
membrance alive  among  my  friends.  I  shall  write  to  you  again 
at  our  next  resting-place,  which  will  be  at  Edinburgh. 


EDINBURGH.  549 


LETTER   VII. 

AN   AMERICAN   SLAVE   AT    LARGE BURNS HUME. 

Edinburgh,  July  A,  1833. 

My  Dear  F :  We  arrived  in  the  metropolis  of  Scotland 

last  evening.  Having  as  yet  made  no  acquaintances  here,  our 
■celebration  of  this  anniversary  has  been  solitary,  but  not  less 
cheerful  than  if  it  had  been  attended  with  all  the  accompaniments 
of  the  festival  on  your  side  of  the  Atlantic.  We  drank  the  health 
of  our  absent  friends,  the  prosperity  of  our  beloved  country,  and 
the  memory  of  her  patriots,  with  an  enthusiasm  increased  by  the 
reflection  that  we  were  wanderers  in  a  foreign  land.  Having  left 
the  tabki  in  a  more  composed  state  of  mind  than  many  perhaps 
better  patriots  will  do  on  your  side  of  the  Ocean,  I  propose  to 
close  the  enjoyments  of  the  day  by  giving  you  the  history  of  our 
progress  since  the  date  of  my  last  letter. 

On  Monday  we  left  Glasgow,  proceeding  by  the  steamboat 
Dumbarton,  down  the  river  Clyde.  I  can  not  control  the  desire 
of  telling  you  minutely,  too  minutely  perhaps,  every  little  inci- 
dent in  our  progress.  In  doing  so,  I  enjoy  a  kind  of  illusive 
sense  of  your  presence  and  your  participation  with  me  in  all  that 
I  see  and  hear  and  learn.  I  examine  objects  much  more  closely, 
and  take  more  copious  notes,  because  I  feel  that  I  am  seeing  and 
hearing  as  well  for  you  as  for  myself. 

In  going  to  the  boat  my  attention  was  arrested  by  a  negro,  the 
only  one  I  had  seen,  with  the  exception  of  the  servants  on  board 
our  ship,  since  I  left  New  York.  He  was  black  as  a  native  Afri- 
can, and  was  so  well  dressed  that  it  was  evident  he  suffered  no 
want  and  was  not  in  service.  I  asked  him  if  he  was  from  Ameri- 
ca. He  replied  that  he  was  from  Virginia.  I  inquired  how  it 
happened  that  he  was  here.     He  replied  that  a  gentleman,  who 


550  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

was  his  master,  had  brought  him  here  many  years  ago.  I  again 
inquired  if  his  master  had  left  him  here.  He  answered,  "  No,  that 
he  had  left  his  master."  The  dialogue  had  proceeded  thus  far, 
when  it  seemed  to  occur  to  him  that  there  might  be  some  pecu- 
liar reason  for  my  inquisitiveness.  I  asked  him  the  name  of  his 
master,  but  he  declined  to  give  it,  and  asked  me  if  I  were  an 
American.  I  relieved  him  from  his  fears  by  telling  him  that  1 
knew  nothing  of  him  or  his  master,  and  was  heartily  glad  that  he 
had  obtained  his  freedom,  and  would  not  for  the  world  contribute, 
even  if  it  were  possible,  to  deprive  him  of  it.  He  then  told  me 
the  history  of  his  arriving  here  as  a  slave,  his  desertion  from  his 
master,  his  secreting  himself,  and  the  return  of  his  master  to 
America.  He  added,  that  pious  people  in  Scotland  had  been 
very  kind ;  they  had  enabled  him  to  get  employment,  and  had 
taught  hrm  to  read  and  write,  and  he  had  been  blessed  with  plenty 
and  comfort.  But  he  still  cherished  respect  and  affection  for  his 
master  and  America,  which  he  would  like  to  revisit  if  he  could 
be  assured  of  his  freedom. 

I  encroach  upon  hours  necessary  for  repose,  to  give  you  a  hur- 
ried account  of  all  we  have  seen  in  this  delightful  city.  I  con- 
fess my  respect  and  admiration  for  the  Scottish  nation  have  been 
somewhat  abated  by  the  many  evidences  still  remaining  b^re,  like 
those  in  Ireland,  of  their  too  profound  sense  of  the  honor  con- 
ferred upon  the  nation  by  the  condescension  of  his  gracious  maj- 
esty, George  IV.,  in  visiting  them.  I  can  imagine  no  duty  more 
important  on  the  part  of  a  sovereign,  than  that  of  seeing  for  him- 
self, once  at  least  in  his  lifetime,  all  parts  of  his  dominions,  which 
are  convenient  of  access — and  it  seems  to  me  supremely  ridicu- 
lous to  magnify  and  laud,  as  an  act  of  condescension,  a  trip  from 
Windsor  to  Edinburgh,  which  his  majesty  can  make  in  a  diligence 
or  steamer,  very  comfortably,  in  three  days,  and  which  is  no  great- 
er journey  than  every  lawyer,  merchant,  and  milliner,  makes  two 
or  three  times  a  year.  Of  the  same  character  with  this  homage, 
is  a  notice  in  my  guide-book,  which  was  written  too  by  an  ac- 
complished literary  man,  of  the  approbation  expressed  by  his 
majesty  in  his  triumphal  entry  through  Prince  street,  and  over  Ke- 
gent's  bridge :  "  It  was  on  entering  from  the  west  upon  this  street, 
and  seeing  its  splendid  vista  terminated  so  finely  by  Nelson's  mon- 
ument, and  a  portion  of  the  Calton  Hill,  which  was  covered  from 
top  to  bottom  with  acclaiming  multitudes,  that  his  present  maj- 


EDINBURGH.  551 

esty  exclaimed,  in  a  sort  of  rapture,  '  How  superb !' "  Heaven 
save  us  from  such  sycophancy  to  our  rulers  !  The  approbation 
of  one  man  of  taste  would  go  further  to  convince  me  of  the 
superlative  splendor  of  the  scene,  than  the  eulogiums  of  the 
whole  dull  family  of  Hanover.  I  do  not  say  that  I  would,  were 
I  a  citizen  of  England  or  Scotland,  refuse  a  hearty  and  enthusi- 
astic welcome  to  the  visit  of  a  monarch ;  but  I  do  say,  there  is 
too  much  worth  in  the  homage  of  a  people  to  be  wasted  on  every 
man  who  wears  a  crown.  Such  a  man  as  Lafayette,  as  Washing- 
ton, as  Wallace,  or  Bruce,  can  seldom  be  too  much  honored  ;  but 
unfortunately,  Lafayettes,  Washingtons,  Wallaces,  and  Bruces, 
appear  but  at  intervals  of  many  generations,  and  I  had  almost 
said  never  wear  crowns. 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  observatory  is  a  very  handsome  plain 
monument,  in  memory  of  the  late  Professor  Play  fair.  Upon  a 
ridge  on  the  southern  side  of  the  hill,  is  a  monument  about 
twenty  feet  high,  in  the  form  of  a  mausoleum,  in  honor  of  Burns. 
It  is  a  very  appropriate  tribute  to  his  memory,  although  it  would 
have  been  more  in  accordance  with  my  taste,  were  it  decorated 
with  some  illustration  from  his  writings.  Any  of  his  numerous 
pieces  would  have  afforded  a  scene  which  represented,  in  bas 
relief,  would  have  added  greatly  to  the  effect.  The  only  orna- 
ment of  this  kind,  which  distinguishes  this  from  the  monuments 
of  those  who  were  not  favorites  of  the  muses,  are  the  Caledonian 
harps,  which  support  the  crown  of  the  mausoleum.  Retracing 
our  walk  over  the  hill,  and  arrived  at  the  copse  of  evergreens, 
which  adorns  the  declivity  toward  Regent's  bridge,  we  recog- 
nised, in  a  church-yard,  on  the  other  side  of  the  road,  and  sur- 
rounded by  humbler  dust,  the  tomb  of  Hume,  the  historian.  You 
recollect  how  beautifully  this  resting-place  of  the  infidel  philoso- 
pher, who  believed  nothing,  by  the  side  of  the  poor  ignorant 
Christian  woman,  whose  faith  received  everything,  is  described 
by  Lockhart  in  Peter's  letters  to  his  kinsfolk. 

We  next  turned  down  a  street  leading  to  the  house  occupied 
by  one  of  the  earliest  and  best  of  the  Scottish  poets,  Allan  Ram- 
say, author  of  the  "  Gentle  Shepherd."  We  were  quite  amused 
as  we  descended  the  hill,  by  seeing  a  merry  bevy  of  little  girls, 
"all  in  a  ring,"  enjoying  identically  the  childish  play  of  our 
infancy,  which  we  had  never  dreamed  was  of  trans- Atlantic  origin 
— "  How  oats,  peas,  beans,  and  barley  grow."     Ramsay's  house 


552  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

is  very  prettily  situated  on  the  declivity  of  a  hill,  shaded  by  trees 
and  adorned  with  a  little  garden.  The  house  is  still  called  "  the 
Poet's  ISTest,"  and  is  occupied  by  the  principal  of  the  university. 
Our  curiosity  was  limited  to  a  survey  of  the  exterior,  and  we  did 
not  intrude  upon  the  worthy  family  who  have  succeeded  the 
poet. 

Some  of  the  houses  in  the  vicinity  of  the  castle  still  bear  the 
marks  of  the  balls  discharged  at  the  castle  during  the  siege  in 
1745.  While  the  old  town  contributes  half  the  effect  of  the  pano- 
ramic view  of  Edinburgh,  so  often  and  justly  lauded,  it  is  only 
the  exterior,  and  at  a  distance  that  will  bear  examination.  The 
immense  masses  of  buildings,  which  I  have  already  described, 
without  ventilation,  and  with  no  passages  but  the  narrow  closes 
seldom  more  than  five  or  six  feet  wide,  have  long  ago  been  aban- 
doned by  the  noble  and  rich,  and  are  now  crowded,  one  story 
above  another,  with  wretched  families.  The  old  town  is,  without 
qualification,  the  filthiest  I  have  ever  seen.  It  was  in  a  low, 
obscure  dwelling,  situated  in  one  of  these  closes,  that  the  individ- 
ual, whose  name  is  immortalized  in  infamy,  pursued  so  long  with 
impunity,  the  horrible  vocation  of  murdering  victims  in  order  to 
furnish  subjects  to  the  schools  of  anatomy.  Yet  it  was  here,  and 
in  these  same  dwellings,  that  the  nobles  and  the  scholars  of  Edin- 
burgh, whose  names  are  identified  with  her  history,  her  science, 
and  learning,  lived.  In  one  of  the  meanest  and  most  obscure  of 
these  closes,  called  Blyth's  close,  is  the  palace  and  oratory  for- 
merly occupied  by  Mary  of  Lorrain,  queen  of  Scotland. 

"We  penetrated  another  of  these  closes  called  Libberton's  Wynd, 
and  were  so  fortunate,  as,  without  meeting  any  obstacle  or  an- 
noyance, to  find,  by  the  aid  of  the  sign-board,  "  Burns'  Tavern," 
the  real  Johnny  Dowie's  house.  Having  called,  by  way  of  pro- 
pitiating the  landlord,  for  something  less  than  a  pint-stoup,  we 
requested  the  occupant  to  show  us  to  the  rooms  occupied  by 
Burns.  With  this  request  he  immediately  complied,  and  bring- 
ing a  candle  and  our  beverage,  placed  them  upon  a  table  in  "  the 
coffin,"  a  dark  room,  with  ceiled  walls,  admitting  only  of  a  small 
table,  with  a  wooden  bench  on  each  of  three  sides.  Our  landlord 
closed  the  door  and  left  us  to  drink  the  memory  of  Burns  in  this 
apartment,  which,  small  as  it  is,  was  the  scene  of  many  a  revel 
of  the  poet  and  his  friends.  In  this  room,  it  is  said,  that  Burns 
composed,  among  other  pieces,  his  beautiful  dedication  of  his 


EDINBURGH.  553 

works  "to  the  noblemen  and  gentlemen  of  the  Caledonian 
Hunt."  Johnny  Dowie,  Burns'  host,  is  long  since  dead.  His 
widow  has  removed  to  a  distant  part  of  the  town,  and  taken  with 
her  the  relics,  which,  according  to  other  tourists,  graced  the 
poet's  retreat ;  but  none  of  them  were  necessary  to  kindle  recol- 
lections which  made  this  visit  to  Johnny  Dowie's  house  one  of 
the  most  exciting  and  agreeable  incidents  of  our  journey. 

Knox's  house  was  granted  to  him  by  the  magistrates,  after  the 
reformation,  free  of  rent.  He  was  the  settled  preacher  in  the 
church  of  St.  Giles,  and  is  said  also  to  have  sometimes  preached 
in  the  streets.  In  the  front  of  the  house  is  a  small  figure  repre- 
senting the  reformer  in  his  ministerial  robes.  Hume's  house, 
such  are  the  vicissitudes  in  human  affairs,  is  graced  with  a  sign- 
board, containing  the  name  of  one  who  labors  no  less  necessarily, 
but  less  gloriously  for  the  comfort  of  his  fellow-beings,  "D. 
M'Laren,  draper  and  tailor." 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Hume's  house,  I  entered  the  bookstore 
of  Blackwood,  but  did  not,  I  trust,  remain  long  enough  to  imbibe 
any  of  the  tory  principles,  as  I  am  sure  I  did  not  long  enough  to 
acquire  any  of  the  inspiration  so  freely  poured  forth  in  "  Black- 
wood's Magazine."  Our  friend  introduced  us  to  the  publisher  of 
the  "  Edinburgh  Review,"  who  showed  us  all  his  new  American 
works,  and  was  perfectly  well-informed  upon  all  matters  relating 
to  our  country,  an  advantage  in  which  this  gentleman  very  far 
excels  most  of  his  countrymen. 

We  began  our  toilsome  pleasures  this  morning,  by  visiting  the 
public  buildings  in  High  street.  The  town-hall  is  an  elegant 
specimen  of  architecture  upon  a  Grecian  model.  The  design  is 
said  to  have  been  copied  from  the  temple  of  Erychtheus  in  the 
Acropolis,  and  that  of  its  vestibule  was  taken  from  the  Choragie 
monument  of  Thrasyllus.  The  pediment  of  the  portico  is  adorned 
with  fluted  Ionic  columns.  The  whole  is  in  perfectly  correct 
taste,  but  it  is  so  badly  located,  as  to  lose  all  appearance  of  gran- 
deur. In  the  great  hall  is  an  excellent  statue  of  the  Lord  Chief- 
Baron  Dundas,  executed  by  Chantrey,  it  is  said,  in  his  best  style. 

More  interesting  to  us  than  this  beautiful  modern  edifice,  was 
the  church  of  St.  Giles,  the  ancient  parish  church  of  John  Knox. 
But  we  found  it  impossible  to  make  a  satisfactory  examination 
of  it.  It  presents  a  broad  front  to  High  street.  Through  this 
porch,  we  advanced  to  enter   a  very  spacious  church  directly 


554:  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

before  us,  which  was  undergoing  repairs.  A  man  in  authority 
told  us  that  entrance  at  this  part  of  the  edifice  was  at  present 
forbidden.  We  turned  to  the  left,  that  too  was  undergoing 
repairs,  and  was  forbidden.  Turning  again  to  our  right,  we  pro- 
posed to  ascend  a  staircase,  but  a  placard  appeared  here  prohib- 
iting access.  We  then  threw  ourselves  among  a  crowd  of  wor- 
shippers, who  were  entering  a  door  on  our  right,  at  the  foot  of 
the  staircase,  and  were  soon  in  the  midst  of  a  spacious,  plain,  and 
beautiful  church,  of  modern  taste  and  construction,  in  which  a 
young  gentlemen,  who  falls  very  far  short  of  John  Knox,  was 
officiating  at  the  altar,  in  front  of  the  pulpit.  We  remained  here 
a  short  time,  and  then  set  out  again  to  find  whatever  of  interest 
might  be  connected  with  St.  Giles.  The  immense  building  con- 
tains four  places  of  public  worship,  occupied  by  as  many  different 
congregations  of  Presbyterians,  besides  aisles  which  have  been 
otherwise  appropriated.  The  whole  edifice  has  been  remodelled, 
and  contains  few  reminiscences,  either  of  its  glory  before  the 
Reformation,  or  of  that  era.  In  an  aisle  of  the  church,  which  has 
since  been  used  for  a  police-office,  rest  the  remains  of  the  mur- 
dered regent,  Murray,  and  of  Napier,  the  inventor  of  logarithms, 
and  in  a  small  vestry  attached  to  the  same  aisle,  are  the  ashes  of 
the  gallant  Montrose. 

The  tower  of  St.  Giles  is  very  imposing ;  it  is  surmounted  by  a 
steeple  one  hundred  and  sixty-one  feet  high,  and  formed  at  the 
summit  into  the  shape  of  an  imperial  crown.  At  the  time  of  the 
Reformation,  great  indignities  were  offered  to  this  alleged  temple 
of  Catholic  idolatry.  A  venerable  statue  of  the  saint  whose  name 
it  bears,  was  tumbled  into  the  ducking-pool,  provided  for  the 
punishment  of  offenders  against  the  kirk,  and  the  relics  and 
jewels  of  the  church  were  appropriated  by  the  town  council  to 
their  own  use.  St.  Giles  afterward  underwent  so  many  altera- 
tions, that  the  saint  himself  would,  at  no  subsequent  time,  have 
been  able  to  recognise  the  places  dedicated  to  his  honor.  In 
this  church  King  James  VI.  took  leave  of  his  people  in  1653r 
when  setting  out  for  England.  It  is  recorded  of  this  monarch, 
and  is  an  interesting  trait  in  the  character  of  the  times,  that  he 
used  frequently,  when  attending  church  at  St.  Giles,  to  retort 
upon  the  bold  presbyterian  preachers,  who  wounded  his  con- 
science in  their  discourses.  In  1643,  the  solemn  league  and  cove- 
nant was  ratified  by  the  English  commissioners  in  this  church. 


EDINBURGH.  555 

Leaving  St.  Giles',  very  little  satisfied  with  our  examination, 
and  promising  ourselves  to  renew  it,  under  the  auspices  of  one 
of  our  friends  in  the  city,  we  sought  the  spot  where  stood  "  the 
Heart  of  Mid  Lothian,"  the  Tolbooth  prison  of  Edinburgh.  No 
trace  of  it  now  remains.  I  leave  you  to  search  out  its  reminis- 
cences in  the  beautiful  legend  of  it  given  by  Scott. 

In  a  large  open  square  in  front  of  the  libraries  of  the  faculty 
of  advocates  and  writers  to  the  signet,  we  were  reminded  that  we 
trod  upon  the  most  ancient  burying-ground  of  Edinburgh.  Here 
rest  the  ashes  of  the  great  and  the  obscure,  warring  knights  and 
nobles  and  their  serfs — of  Catholics  and  Protestants.  I  inquired 
where  was  the  grave  of  Knox  ?  "  It  is  in  this  place,"  was  the  re- 
ply, "  but  nobody  knows  in  what  part  of  it."  The  whole  place, 
once  so  sacredly  appropriated,  is  now  a  thoroughfare,  preserving  no- 
memorial  of  the  dust  gathered  beneath  it.  Subsequent  to  its 
ceasing  to  be  a  burying-ground,  it  became  a  precinct  of  the 
Scottish  parliament-house,  and  was  the  scene  of  a  thousand 
tempestuous  assemblages  of  the  people  during  the  civil  wars  and 
the  union. 

Passing  this  square,  we  entered  the  parliament-house,  which 
yet  remains  a  monument  of  the  former  independence  of  the 
Scottish  nation.  Going  through  a  small  lobby,  we  entered  an 
immense  Gothic  hall,  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  feet  long, 
fifty  feet  broad,  and  fifty  feet  in  height,  arched  in  the  most  elabo- 
rate and  curious  manner.  This  was  the  hall  of  the  ancient  par- 
liaments of  Scotland,  the  three  estates  of  which  always  occupied 
the  same  chamber,  and  transacted  business  together.  But  all 
historical  reminiscenses  were  banished  from  our  minds  by  the 
strange  and  noisy  scene  which  here  presented  itself.     You  are  to 

know,  my  dear  F ,  that  Edinburgh  is  the  seat  of  the  great 

courts  of  justice  for  all  Scotland,  that  it  is  to  this  possession  of 
the  courts  and  to  her  literary  publications,  that  Edinburgh  owes 
all  her  distinction  over  the  more  prosperous  and  commercial  town 
of  Glasgow.  The  courts  are  held  by  terms  at  certain  seasons  of 
the  year.  The  judges,  advocates,  and  counsellors,  give  the  tone 
to  society.  What  the  session  of  parliament  is  for  London,  the 
courts  of  law  are  for  Edinburgh ;  all  these  courts  are  held  in  the 
old  parliament-house,  and  fortunately,  were  in  session  when  we 
entered.  This  immense  hall  was  thronged  by  crowds  of  persons, 
many  sauntering  at  their  ease  up  and  down  the  hall,  as  a  prome- 


556  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

nade,  others  groups  of  counsellors,  clients,  and  witnesses,  others 
consisting  of  parties  traversing  the  halls  in  great  haste  to  call 
their  counsel,  clerks,  attorneys,  and  all  the  usual  attendants  of 
court*.  All  this  multitude  were  employed  in  unrestrained  con- 
versation, which  produced  a  confused  noise,  in  which,  to  use  the 
old  simile,  a  man  could  hardly  hear  himself  speak.  To  add  to 
the  confusion,  loud  voices  proceeding  from  little  recesses  in  the 
sides  of  the  room,  were  heard  at  intervals  of  every  few  seconds, 
calling  in  a  loud  tone  the  names  of  parties  or  witnesses  in  causes, 
which  were  on  trial,  or  the  titles  of  causes  next  in  order.  In  this 
strange  scene  I  applied  to  a  young  gentleman  of  the  profession, 
who  was  standing  near  me  disengaged,  for  information  as  to 
where  I  could  find  a  distinguished  counsellor  to  whom  I  had  a 
letter,  which,  owing  to  the  short  stay  we  proposed  to  make  in 
Edinburgh,  I  wished  to  deliver  in  person  at  the  court.  The 
gentleman  had  seen  him  but  a  few  minutes  before,  and  doubted 
not  that  he  was  in  the  hall,  and  therefore  kindly  offered  to  direct 
one  of  the  criers  to  call  him.  Thinking  that  this  was  rather  too 
professional  a  way  of  obtaining  an  interview  for  the  purpose  of 
making  acquaintance  with  a  brother-lawyer,  I  declined  the  offer. 
The  gentleman  kindly  walked  with  us  in  the  hope  of  finding  the 
advocate  in  some  of  the  different  courts,  or  in  the  hall.  Being: 
unsuccessful,  he  yet  insisted  the  counsellor  was  in  the  crowd,  and 
declared  that  it  was  entirely  consistent  with  the  etiquette  of  the 
place  to  have  the  object  of  our  search  called  by  the  crier.  I 
preferred,  however,  not  to  hazard  so  bold  a  measure,  and  the 
gentleman  then  very  kindly  rendered  us  all  the  attention  that  my 
letter  could  have  commanded,  had  it  been  delivered. 

The  most  curious  part  of  the  arrangement  of  this  singular  scene 
remains  yet  to  be  described.  Traversing  the  hall,  we  came  to  a 
recess  deep  enough  to  allow  a  seat  for  a  judge,  who  sat  there  in 
his  robes  and  wig,  holding  a  court,  and  hearing  arguments  undis- 
turbed in  the  midst  of  the  confusion  I  have  described.  There 
were  four  of  these  courts  in  session  on  different  sides  of  the  hall, 
and  it  was  from  them  that  the  discordant  voices  of  as  many  criers 
were  heard  throughout  the  hall.  It  was  with  difficulty  that,  when 
we  approached  close  to  the  tribunal,  we  could  hear  enough  of  the 
arguments  of  counsel  to  form  an  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  cause ; 
but  all  the  parties  concerned  seemed  to  proceed  with  as  much 
regularity  as  if  they  were  in  the  most  favored  location  for  trans- 


EDINBURGH.  55T 

acting  business.  These  courts  are  called  the  outer  tribunals. 
Causes  are  tried  here  by  one  judge  without  a  jury,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  expediting  business.  If  the  party  against  whom  judg- 
ment is  rendered  is  dissatisfied,  an  appeal  is  brought,  and  the 
cause  is  with  greater  deliberation  and  solemnity  tried  before  a 
court  and  jury.  We  next  visited  the  chambers  provided  for  the 
sessions  of  the  inner  or  higher  courts,  where  we  found  business 
conducted  with  less  formality  than  in  the  high  courts  we  had  vis- 
ited in  Ireland.  The  judges  and  counsel,  however,  wore  robes. 
Our  new  and  obliging  friend  next  introduced  us  to  the  court  of 
sessions,  and  pointed  out  to  us  the  chair  which  Sir  Walter  Scott 
had  so  long  occupied  as  clerk. 

From  this  hurried  visit  to  the  courts  we  returned  to  the  hall, 
where  we  found  it  less  difficult  than  when  we  had  first  entered 
to  trace  the  history  of  the  important  events  which  had  occurred 
wuthin  its  walls  —  a  history  whose  interest  commences  and  termi- 
nates with  that  revolution  so  long  protracted,  and  exhibiting  so 
many  vicissitudes,  by  which  Scotland  gained  her  religious  and 
civil  liberty,  at  the  expense  of  her  independence.  How  interest- 
ing must  have  been  that  debate,  which  was  the  last  of  the  Scot- 
tish parliament,  on  the  bill  for  the  adoption  of  the  union  proposed 
by  England!  The  people  of  Edinburgh  yet  love  to  dwell  upon 
the  reminiscences  of  that  event ;  and,  although  there  is  less  dis- 
loyalty during  the  present  age  in  Scotland  than  in  any  other  part 
of  Great  Britain,  it  is  not  difficult  to  discover  the  natural  love  of 
independence  in  the  homage  paid  to  the  memory  of  the  eloquent 
opponents  of  the  union,  and  the  veneration  in  which  they  hold 
their  regalia,  their  lofty  parliament-house,  and  the  desolated  gran- 
deur of  Holy  rood.  Time  has  done  much,  however,  to  break  down 
the  moral  barriers  which  once  divided  Scotland  and  England  — 
barriers  far  more  impassable  than  the  Tweed,  or  even  the  Gram- 
pian hills.  Their  language,  their  literature,  their  religion,  and 
their  agricultural  and  commercial  interests,  have  gradually  as- 
similated. Their  common  sacrifices,  common  fame,  and  common 
triumphs,  in  the  recent  European  wars,  have  bound  the  people  of 
the  two  countries  closely  together ;  and  while  it  is  my  firm  con- 
viction that  the  day  is  not  distant  when  Ireland,  whose  capital 
has  almost  forgotten  that  it  contains  the  ancient  seat  of  kings  and 
parliaments,  will  become  an  independent  nation,  I  have  no  doubt 
that  Scotland,  in  whose  capital  similar  reminiscences  are  now  so 


55S  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

much  venerated,  will  gradually  assimilate  to  England,  until  the 
memory  of  her  lost  independence  will  be  recalled  without  regret. 

Jeanie  Dean's  house  (what  would  you  not  give,  my  dear  F , 

to  see  the  identical  house  of  the  homeliest  but  loveliest  and  most 
interesting  of  all  the  heroines  of  the  "  Wizard  of  the  North"  ?)  is 
still  standing,  embosomed  in  a  parterre  of  roses  and  shrubbery  at 
the  foot  of  the  crag,  and  invites  all  tourists  who  descend  the  hill 
to  refresh  themselves  before  they  pursue  further  their  laborious 
vocation.  The  friends  who  were  with  me  were  so  impatient  to 
proceed,  that  I  was  hurried  past  the  door  —  not,  however,  with- 
out making  a  mental  resolution  that  I  would  revisit  it  before 
taking  leave  of  Edinburgh.  We  were  now  upon  the  royal  do- 
main of  Holyrood,  but  how7  melancholy  was  the  contrast  of  its 
gloomy  environs  now,  with  the  royal  splendor  they  exhibited 
when  Scotland  "  had  a  whole  king  of  her  own" !  It  would  be 
too  severe  an  imposition  to  drag  you  now  through  Holyrood. 
So  once  more  a  respite. 

At  Borughbridge,  in  Yorkshire,  I  was  amused  by  a  bookseller's 
sign-board,  quite  as  extravagantly  setting  forth  his  stock  in  trade 
as  any  we  have  among  our  more  boasting  people,  as  the  English 
call  us :  "  Books  in  all  languages,  ancient  and  modern."  Well 
is  it  for  the  proprietor  that  books  can  not  speak  ;  if  that  were  pos- 
sible, he  would  have  the  confusion  of  Babel  in  his  shop  continu- 
ally. I  observed,  not  only  here,  but  at  Edinburgh,  and  in  all  the 
towns  through  which  we  have  passed,  Cooper's  novels  advertised. 
From  the  conversation  I  have  had  with  many  gentlemen,  and  the 
enthusiastic  manner  in  which  they  all  speak  of  Cooper,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  our  countrymen  at  home  are  not  conscious  of  the 
extent  of  his  popularity.  There  is  something  in  the  richness  of 
his  descriptions  of  American  scenery,  and  the  peculiarity  of  inci- 
dents, which  procures  readers  for  all  his  works.  In  truth,  it  is  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  he  is  ranked  here  as  the  only  successor 
to  Walter  Scott,  and  as  inferior  only  to  him.  It  is  a  curious  cir- 
cumstance that  Cooper  enjoys  here  a  popularity  equal  to  that  of 
Bulwer  in  America,  while  the  latter  would  delight  in  a  popu- 
larity at  home  as  great  as  that  of  our  American  novelist  here. 

We  were  all  impatient  to  see  the  minster  or  cathedral  of  York, 
the  fame  of  which  is  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  entire  attrac- 
tion of  our  countrymen  to  visit  England.  Our  wishes  in  this  re* 
epect  were  gratified  long  before  reaching  the  town. 


LONDON.  559 


LETTER   YIII. 

FROM   YORK   TO   LONDON — THE    METROPOLIS- 

London,  July  12,  1833. 

My  Dear  W :  On  Wednesday  morning,  the  10th  instant, 

we  left  York,  and  proceeded  on  our  journey  to  the  great  metropo- 
lis. The  country,  as  we  approached  London,  appeared  still  more 
highly  cultivated.  The  number  of  stage-coaches  continually  pas- 
sing, crowded  with  passengers,  indicated  the  vicinity  of  the  capi- 
tal. At  Tadcaster,  distant  nine  miles  from  York,  I  saw  conspicu- 
ously placed  upon  the  roadside  a  pair  of  stocks.  I  had  not  be- 
lieved, before  this  evidence,  that  corporeal  punishments  were  yet 
continued  in  this  enlightened  country. 

At  Highgate  we  passed  from  Hertfordshire  into  the  county  of 
Middlesex.  The  road  went  under  a  lofty  arch  raised  upon  an 
eminence,  over  which  Hornsley  lane  (a  new  road)  is  carried. 
From  beneath  this  arch  we  enjoyed  our  first  sight  of  London, 
which  was  seen  at  a  sliort  distance  before  us,  stretching  out  a 
dense,  sombre  mass  of  buildings,  over  and  around  which  hung  a 
cloud  of  black  coal-smoke,  through  which  the  eye  could  not  pen- 
etrate further  than  imperfectly  to  distinguish  the  lofty  dome  of 
St.  Paul's.  This  first  view,  although  it  presented  distinctly  noth- 
ing which  the  eye  could  rest  upon  with  interest,  was,  from  its 
vagueness,  and  the  vast  extent  which  we  were  left  to  imagine 
where  we  could  not  see,  well  calculated  to  swell  the  conceptions 
we  already  entertained  of  the  magnitude  of  the  capital  of  the 
modern  world.  Descending  rapidly  from  this  hill,  we  soon  en- 
tered the  streets  of  Islington,  the  scene  of  John  Gilpin's  "  merry 
gambols."  But  it  is  now  so  changed,  that  if  the  "  trainband  cap- 
tain" could  return  to  "  ride  another  race,"  he  would  not  recognise 
the  merry  Islington  through  which  he  rode  so  rapidly.  Isling- 
ton, then  a  country  village,  is  now  a  suburb  of  the  metropolis. 


560  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

A  high  ridge  on  the  west  side  is  occupied  with  the  villas  of  rich 
merchants  and  gentlemen,  while  the  great  area  below  is  as  com- 
pactly built,  and  covered  with  as  dense  an  atmosphere  of  coal- 
smoke,  as  any  other  part  of  the  metropolis.  Our  coachman  hur- 
ried on,  and  soon  "  the  stones  of  Cheapside  rattled  underneath" 
our  wheels.  The  coach  turned,  entered  an  open  court,  and  de- 
posited us  at  the  door  of  the  "  Saracen  inn."  Thus  we  had  arrived 
in  London  unknown  to  any,  unregarded  by  all,  and  forming  a 
minute  portion  of  the  population  of  one  and  a  half  millions  of 
the  British  capital. 

Shall  I  confess  to  you  that  my  emotions  were  painful?  Long 
as  I  had  indulged  the  hope  at  some  distant  day  of  seeing  the  great 
city,  anxious  as  in  our  rapid  journey  I  had  become  to  reach  tins 
important  destination,  and  excited  as  I  was  as  we  approached  it, 
I  suffered  a  despondency  more  oppressive  than  I  can  describe, 
which  was  produced  by  a  consciousness  of  the  immensity  of  the 
city,  and  my  own  solitude.  I  had  come  far  to  see  it,  to  examine 
and  study  it  in  detail,  and  I  hoped  to  be  improved  and  instructed 
by  the  examination;  but  I  saw  at  once  that  all  this  was  a  task 
too  great,  and  I  felt  then,  as  I  feel  now,  that  I  should  linger  a 
few  days,  looking  at  a  few  prominent  objects,  and  leave  it  with- 
out knowing  it.  Had  our  arrival  been  in  any  other  city  in  the 
world,  I  should  have  known  what  to  do,  and  should  soon  have 
ascertained  where  to  go ;  but  it  was  not  so  in  London. 

In  the  evening  I  determined  to  visit  some  one  of  the  theatres, 
to  banish  an  ennui  which  was  becoming  quite  insupportable.  I 
was  in  the  vicinity  of  Co  vent-Garden,  for  which  I  had  a  great 
veneration.  It  being  associated  with  all  my  recollections  of  the 
English  drama,  thither  I  went. 

Covent-G-arden  theatre  has  a  fame  which  is  calculated  to  raise 
expectations  of  a  very  imposing  edifice,  and  a  name  importing  an 
agreeable  location  ;  but  the  approach  to  it  by  traversing  the  mar- 
ket, which  now  occupies  in  part  the  site  of  the  garden  which  gave 
its  name  to  this  portion  of  the  town,  and  the  entrance  through  a 
circuitous  and  mean  passage-way,  dash  to  the  earth  all  these  an- 
ticipations. The  interior  of  the  edifice  is  much  more  extensive, 
and  perhaps  more  splendid,  than  that  of  any  of  our  American 
theatres ;  but  in  the  latter  particular  the  contrast  is  not  great. 
Covent-Garden  theatre  is  known  to  us  Americans  only  by  its 
connection  for  two  centuries  with  the  classic  drama.     We  know 


LONDON.  561 

all  the  dramas  of  merit  which  it  has  ushered  to  the  world ;  we 
know  only  the  fame  of  its  distinguished  actors ;  and  in  contempla- 
ting it  at  a  distance,  we  forget  that,  like  our  own  and  all  other 
theatres,  it  has  given  a  short-lived  celebrity  to  a  thousand  produc- 
tions of  dullness  for  every  one  of  real  genius ;  and  that  while  one 
actor  has  achieved  an  imperishable  fame  upon  its  boards,  a  hun- 
dred have  "  strutted  their  brief  hour"  upon  the  same  boards,  and 
then  have  been  forgotten  for  ever.  I  went  to  the  theatre,  regret- 
ting that  instead  of  a  standard  drama,  as  I  had  expected,  or  some 
new  one  of  superior  merit,  as  I  had  ventured  to  hope,  we  were 
to  be  presented  with  an  opera,  a  modern  invention  and  substitute 
for  the  classic  drama  of  the  olden  time.  I  confess  my  regret,  al- 
though meliorated,  was  not  banished  by  reading  upon  my  play- 
bill the  name  of  Madame  Malibran  as  the  principal  singer.  Des- 
titute as  I  am  of  musical  talent  and  taste,  the  opera  has  never 
presented  any  powerful  attraction  to  me,  and  I  only  tolerate  it  as 
being  much  better  than  the  raree-shows,  vulgar  wit,  and  dull  dia- 
logue, which  form  so  great  a  portion  of  the  entertainment  of 
modern  theatres.  You  will  at  once  conclude  that  I  was  not  in  a 
frame  of  mind  to  be  greatly  pleased  with  the  performance,  but  I 
was  most  agreeably  disappointed. 

The  business  of  the  morning  after  our  arrival  was  to  deliver 
our  letters.  According  to  custom,  we  visited  in  person  the  charge 
d'affaires  by  whom  our  government  is  represented  to  the  court 
of  St.  James.  We  found  the  residence  of  Mr.  Yail  in  a  fashion- 
able part  of  the  west  end  of  the  town.  No  republican  could  com- 
plain of  the  de-facto  minister's  economy,  although  he  might  of 
his  taste  in  selecting  his  apartments  over  the  shop  of  a  court  tai- 
lor! A  valet  received  our  letters  and  cards,  and  returned  with 
directions  to  show  us  into  the  presence  of  Mr.  Aaron  Yail.  We 
were  received  by  a  young  man  of  middle  stature  and  dark  com- 
plexion, who  spoke  English  with  so  marked  a  French  accent, 
that  we  doubted  whether  the  gentleman  were  the  charge  himself 
or  a  secretary.  He  had  forgotten  how  to  give  the  cordial,  hearty 
shake  of  the  hand  which  we  thought  was  familiar  to  all  our  coun- 
trymen. He  was  attended  by  an  American  youth  of  twenty,  who 
graciously  lounged  in  a  damask-covered  arm-chair,  and  displayed 
an  imposing  pair  of  mustaches.  The  room  was  well  furnished, 
and  decorated  with  a  fine  collection  of  pictures  and  other  orna- 
ments.    The  conversation  was  cold  and  formal.     It  indicated  on 

Yol.  Ill— 36 


562  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE 

the  part  of  the  representative  scarcely  any  interest  in  his  native 
country.  Nor  did  he  dwell  upon  the  politics  of  the  court  at 
which  he  resides,  or  any  of  the  interesting  questions  which  agi- 
tate the  political  circles  on  the  continent. 

Had  not  our  friends  who  furnished  us  letters  been  kind  enough 
to  send  them  to  us  open — had  they  not  been  written  in  a  spirit 
calculated  to  elicit  all  the  kindness  he  had  in  his  composition  — 
we  should  have  inferred,  from  what  seemed  to  us  the  coldness  of 
our  reception,  that  they  had  contained  some  sinister  caution 
against  extending  to  us  much  courtesy.  We  took  a  formal  leave, 
and  returned  to  our  lodgings,  contrasting  the  reception  given  us 
by  the  charge  at  London  —  upon  wrhom  courtesy  toward  his  coun- 
trymen is  enjoined  as  an  official  duty  —  with  the  hearty  and  un- 
stinted welcome  we  had  experienced  from  the  hands  of  Mr.  Miller, 
as  well  as  from  Mr.  Alexander  Thompson,  a  native  of  Scotland, 
the  American  consul  at  Glasgow. 

Our  first  view  of  Windsor  palace  was  through  an  opening  of 
the  trees  about  two  miles  from  Windsor.  Its  coarse  stone  walls 
and  towers  are  finely  contrasted  with  the  luxuriant  vegetation  by 
which  it  is  surrounded.  The  Thames,  with  its  sedgy  banks,  is 
much  more  beautiful  at  Windsor  than  at  London.  We  dined  at 
about  one  o'clock,  and  being  informed  that  their  majesties  were 
attending  public  worship  in  the  chapel,  "  Boots"  was  soon  put 
in  requisition  to  show  us  the  place  where  we  might  hope  to 
obtain  a  glimpse,  for  the  first  and  only  time  in  our  lives,  of  roy- 
alty. Arriving  at  the  chapel,  we  found  the  choir  was  crowded 
and  the  gates  were  shut.  It  remained  for  us  to  be  content  to 
hear  the  service  in  the  area  of  the  church.  Here  several  hun- 
dreds of  his  majesty's  loyal  subjects  were  promenading  under 
the  arches  and  in  the  aisles,  grieving  that  they  had  come  too  late 
to  get  within,  and  thus  obtain  a  sight  of  their  sovereign.  Their 
disappointment  was  more  tolerable  than  ours,  as  they  could  come 
another  day.  I  applied  to  a  man  who  wore  a  black  gown  and 
staff,  and  stated  to  him  that  we  were  Americans,  who  never  had, 
and  trusted  in  Heaven  we  never  should  have,  a  king  of  our 
own  to  look  upon,  that  we  were  desirous  to  see  whether  royalty 
made  its  possessor  anything  more  than  other  mortals.  With  my 
moving  eloquence  and  a  piece  of  silver,  I  so  far  overcame  his 
fear  of  offending  against  the  established  rules,  that  he  directed 
us  by  a  circuitous  route  to  a  door  at  the  further  end  of  the  chapel, 


LONDON.  563 

where  he  admitted  us  unobserved  into  the  aisle  immediately 
under  the  royal  pew,  and  having  a  full  view  of  the  choir.  The 
sermon  was  a  common-place  production.  The  music  was  excel- 
lent beyond  any  I  have  ever  heard,  especially  a  new  anthem  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  service.  The  pew  of  the  royal  family  is  in 
the  gallery.  The  access  to  it  is  through  the  vestry-house,  which 
has  a  door  leading  into  the  aisle,  in  which  we  stood.  Our  new 
friend  placed  us  directly  in  front  of  this  door,  and  within  four 
feet  from  it,  and  directed  us  to  wait  the  exit  of  his  majesty.  In 
a  few  minutes  after  the  service  was  concluded,  we  saw  the  offi- 
ciating clergymen,  who  were  standing  within  the  vestry-room, 
bow  very  low,  and  immediately  after  a  lady,  apparently  of  mid- 
dle age,  tall,  and  fashionably  though  modestly  dressed,  issued 
from  the  room,  attended  by  several  young  gentlemen,  and  pre- 
ceded by  three  or  four  guards.  The  clergymen  bowed  again, 
and  a  gentleman  apparently  of  sixty  years,  of  a  robust  constitu- 
tion, dressed  in  a  plain  blue  coat,  decorated  with  a  single  star, 
appeared  in  the  door.  He  looked  hastily  at  the  assembled 
crowd,  bowed,  and  passed  on.  Thus  we  had  seen  the  king  and 
queen  of  Great  Britain.  His  majesty  has  a  benevolent  but  not 
particularly  intelligent  countenance,  and  is  correctly  represented 
in  most  of  the  numerous  portraits  which  you  have  seen  of  him. 
The  royal  party  were  attended  by  a  small  guard,  and  followed 
by  the.  crowd.  We  remained  to  make  a  hasty  examination  of 
the  chapel. 

We  gave  an  hour  to  a  promenade  upon  the  Long  Walk,  shaded 
with  ancient  oaks,  and  at  the  end  of  which  is  the  equestrian 
bronze  statue  of  George  IIL,  erected  by  George  IV. ;  after  which, 
and  a  dinner  in  which  our  loyalty  warmed  by  the  opportunity  of 
contrasting  our  own  simple  and  beautiful  principles  of  govern- 
ment with  that  under  which  we  happened  to  be,  we  returned  to 
London.     Once  more,  dear  W ,  I  subscribe  myself  yours. 


564  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE 


LETTEE  IX. 


London,  July,  1833. 

My  dear  W :  On  Monday  we  visited,  in  the  evening,  the 

house  of  commons.  It  had  unfortunately  happened,  that,  owing 
to  the  short  stay  we  had  determined  to  make  in  London,  we  had 
left  but  one  of  several  letters  with  which  we  had  been  furnished 
to  members  of  the  commons.  That  letter,  to  Mr.  Hume,  had  not 
been  acknowledged.  We  therefore  repaired  to  the  hall  of  the 
commons,  with  the  expectation  of  purchasing  an  admission  by 
the  payment  of  half  a  crown  each :  for  you  are  to  understand,, 
that  in  parliamentary  language,  all  persons,  whether  British  sub- 
jects or  not,  are  called  strangers.  No  person  has  a  right  to  wit- 
ness the  debates.  That  is  a  privilege  granted  by  the  house  to 
reporters,  and  to  others,  upon  such  terms  as  the  house  deems 
proper.  Any  person  who  wishes  to  gain  admittance  must  take 
one  of  two  methods,  obtain  an  order  from  a  member  (each  mem- 
ber being  authorized  to  admit  two  persons),  or  buy  a  ticket  of 
the  doorkeepers  at  half  a  crown.  I  was  determined  to  make  my 
acquaintance  with  some  of  the  members  by  means  of  my  letters. 
The  entrance  to  St.  Stephen's  chapel  is  through  a  spacious  arch 
chamber  in  Westminster  hall.  On  arriving  at  this  ante-chamber, 
we  found  an  avenue  formed  of  persons  who,  like  ourselves,  wished 
to  obtain  admission  as  spectators.  These  persons  were  ranged  in 
two  lines,  and  the  members  of  parliament  passed  through  the 
avenue  to  the  door,  where  they  were  admitted  by  the  doorkeep- 
ers; occasionally  one  returned,  having  obtained  the  speaker's 
check  in  favor  of  a  friend  among  the  crowd  in  the  ante-chamber, 
who  was  immediately  admitted.  I  was  disappointed  in  finding 
that  none  of  the  gentlemen  to  whom  I  had  letters  had  arrived  un- 
til several  minutes  after  five.     I  at  length  learned  that  Mr.  Hume 


LONDON.  565 

had  passed  in,  and  immediately  wrote  a  note  to  him.  In  a  few 
seconds  he  appeared  in  the  lobby  and  made  our  acquaintance. 
We  were  immediately  admitted  and  directed  to  seats  under  the 
gallery ;  that  is  to  say,  to  seats  in  the  body  of  the  chapel  appro- 
priated to  the  members  themselves.  Here  Mr.  Hume,  who  is  a 
very  agreeable  man  as  well  as  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  mem- 
bers of  the  house,  took  his  seat  with  us,  and  made  known,  from 
time  to  time,  the  names  of  the  different  members,  in  answer  to 
our  inquiries,  or  as  he  supposed  we  would  be  pleased  to  learn 
them.  Often  as  I  had  read  of  the  mean  and  contracted  dimen- 
sions and  appearance  of  St.  Stephen's  chapel,  I  confess  I  had  no 
just  idea  of  it.  The  whole  is  as  plain  and  unimposing  as  an 
American  Presbyterian  church  a  hundred  years  old.  The  room 
is  perhaps  fifty  or  sixty  feet  in  length  and  thirty  feet  wide.  The 
number  of  members  is  about  four  hundred.  The  speaker's  chair 
is  at  the  further  end  of  the  hall.  In  the  rear  is  a  high  bench 
occupied  by  reporters ;  below  which,  and  on  the  sides  and  oppo- 
site ends  of  the  hall  are  rows  of  benches  covered  with  green 
cloth.  Those  in  rear  are  elevated  above  those  in  front,  so  that 
the  heads  of  the  members  upon  the  furthest  benches  almost  touch 
the  gallery.  In  the  centre,  a  passage-way  of  perhaps  ten  feet  is 
preserved,  through  which  members  pass  and  repass  to  and  from 
the  door.  A  plain  flat  table  which  is  occupied  by  the  clerks 
blocks  up  this  avenue  just  in  front  of  the  speaker's  chair.  The 
speaker  is  dressed  in  the  fantastical  wig  and  gown,  similar  ,to 
those  worn  by  the  judges.  No  peculiarity  of  dress  distinguishes 
the  members,  except  that  they  wear  their  hats.  The  members, 
I  thought,  were  in  appearance  a  far  less  dignified  and  grave  as- 
semblage than  any  of  our  American  legislative  bodies.  Their 
dress  was  less  uniform,  and  exhibited  a  greater  conformity  to 
fashion.  I  was  surprised  to  see  so  large  a  number  of  young  men. 
"When  we  entered,  the  seats  were  not  yet  considerably  filled. 
An  old  gentleman,  apparently  sixty  years  of  age,  plainly  but 
neatly  dressed,  and  having  a  fluent  delivery  and  melodious  voice, 
was  speaking,  with  his  hand  resting  upon  the  clerk's  table,  in  a 
tone  so  low,  and  with  so  little  appearance  of  effort  to  command 
attention,  that  I  doubted  whether  the  house  had  yet  commenced 
the  transaction  of  business,  and  was  inclined  to  suppose  the 
members  around  the  table,  as  well  as  the  speaker,  were  engaged 
in  conversation  with  the  gentleman  who  had  the  floor.     Pres- 


566  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

ently  I  heard  from  members  near  the  speaker  cries  of  no,  no, 
and  from  others,  hear!  hear!  hear!  The  member  who  was 
speaking  now  raised  his  voice,  and  delivered  his  remarks  with  so 
distinct  an  utterance  that  I  understood  the  subject.  "That  is 
Mr.  Cobbett,"  said  my  friend.  He  complained  that,  through  the 
partiality  of  some  one  or  more  of  the  members  of  a  committee 
of  which  he  was  a  minority  member,  exposure  had  been  made 
of  testimony  which  good  faith  required  to  be  kept  secret.  He 
exhibited  great  prudence.  When  he  spoke  of  the  publisher  (who 
was  not  a  member  of  the  house)  his  epithets  were  severe  and 
coarse.  He  called  him  a  sjpy.  When  he  reflected  upon  the  con- 
duct of  members  of  the  house,  his  language  was  qualified  and 
guarded,  and  exhibited  no  evidence  of  passion.  Just  the  reverse 
was  the  case  with  the  several  other  members  of  the  committee 
who  replied  to  him :  they  were  intemperate  and  discourteous. 
Cobbett  rose  to  reply.  Cries  were  heard  of,  "  You  have  spoken 
once  !"  But  he  continued  on,  so  cool  and  clear  in  his  statements 
that  he  was  suffered  to  conclude.  The  debate  was  desultory, 
and  no  question  was  taken  upon  the  subject. 

You  are  aware  that  the  all-engrossing  question  in  English  pol- 
itics is  the  bill  which  has  passed  the  commons,  providing  for  the 
reform  of  the  Irish  Church.  The  bill  is  now  in  the  lords,  where 
there  is  a  strong  tory  majority,  who  have  the  power,  and  it  is  said 
are  determined  to  defeat  the  bill,  which  is  a  favorite  measure  of 
the  ministry.  Indeed,  upon  its  fate  depends  their  continuance  in 
office.  Wednesday  next  is  the  day  assigned  for  the  second  read- 
ing of  the  bill  in  the  house  of  lords.  The  debate  in  the  commons 
to-day  related  to  this  bill.  Sir  John  Wrottlesey,  a  gentleman 
about  forty-five  years  of  age,  arose,  and  in  a  confused  manner 
delivered  himself  of  a  set  speech  of  some  length,  in  which  he 
assigned  his  reasons  for  a  motion  which  he  had  previously  given 
notice  he  would  submit  at  this  time.  It  was  evident  that  Sir 
John  was  no  orator.  But  there  was  one  trait  which  commanded 
respect ;  this  was  the  diffidence  of  the  speaker.  The  motion 
which  he  submitted  was,  that  on  Thursday  next  the  roll  of  the 
house  should  be  called.  After  stating  that  the  East  India  char- 
ter, the  bank  charter,  and  the  West  India  slavery  bills,  were  yet 
before  the  house,  and  were  so  important  in  their  nature  as  to 
demand  a  full  attendance  of  members,  he  proceeded  (under  a  dis- 
claimer of  all  intention  to  menace  the  house  of  lords)  to  say  that 


LONDON.  567 

"  the  commons  had  a  lawful  right  to  express  their  solicitude  for 
the  fate  of  the  Irish  church  bill  in  the  other  house.  That  this 
house  knew  from  rumor  that  the  bill  had  been  called,  by  mem- 
bers of  great  importance  in  the  other  house,  a  bill  of  spoliation, 
and  certain  members  against  whose  influence  the  bill  could  not 
be  expected  to  pass,  had  declared  their  opposition  to  it.  To  the 
possible  defeat  of  the  bill  in  question^he  looked  forward  as  a 
crisis  so  important,  as  in  all  probability  to  demand  from  the 
throne  some  vigorous  measure  to  preserve  the  peace  and  prosper- 
ity of  the  kingdom.  Should  such  a  crisis  occur,  the  commons, 
the  representatives  of  the  people,  ought  to  be  present  to  rally 
around  the  throne,  and  boldly  as  well  as  firmly  sustain  the  king." 
Sir  John  Wrottlesey  has  no  pretensions  to  oratory  —  his  de- 
livery of  this  speech  was  slow  and  labored.  I  have  heard  many 
equal  efforts  in  a  political  meeting  in  New  York.  As  soon  as  lie 
had  resumed  his  seat,  a  member  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  house, 
and  who  was  apparently  thirty-six  or  thirty-seven  years  old,  tall, 
and  of  slender  constitution,  dressed  a  la  mode,  rose,  and  advan- 
cing to  the  clerk's  table,  took  off  his  hat,  and  commenced  a  reply. 
He  deprecated  discussion  on  this  subject,  but  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  so  vigorous  a  battle  with  the  motion,  that  his  protest- 
ando  was  evidently  a  figure  of  speech.  He  adverted  to  the  two 
reasons  assigned  by  the  mover,  and  in  reference  to  the  first,  main- 
tained that  there  had  been  no  unfaithfulness  in  attendance  on  the 
part  of  the  great  mass  of  members  of  the  house  ;  but  this,  he  said, 
could  not  be  the  reason  for  the  motion.  The  true  reason  must  be 
the  apprehension  of  members  for  the  fate  of  the  Irish  Church  Ee- 
form  Bill  in  the  other  house.  He  ingeniously  underrated  the 
grounds  of  alarm  on  this  subject ;  showed  that  the  reports  on  the 
subject  were  vague  and  inconclusive  ;  and  then  turning  toward 
the  tory  members,  appealed  to  the  self-respect  of  the  house  of 
commons,  "  whether  it  was  consistent  with  their  dignity,  to  pro- 
ceed upon  such  evidence  as  this."  [Cries  of  "  Hear !"  "  Hear !" 
"  No !"  "  No  !"  responded  from  the  tory  benches.]  The  whig 
members  seemed  uneasy,  and  the  speaker,  in  an  animated  and 
happy  manner,  prosecuted  his  advantage.  He  demanded  wheth- 
er this  measure  would  not  be  justly  regarded  as  a  menace,  as  an 
attempt  to  intimidate  the  lords,  before  they  had  discussed  the 
bill ;  and  would  not  this  be  an  unprecedented  as  well  as  unwar- 
ranted attack  upon  the  constitutional  independence  of  a  co-ordi  • 


568  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

nate  branch  of  the  legislature  ?  Would  the  house  of  commons, 
jealous  of  its  own  rights,  thus,  without  precedent,  and  upon  mere 
vague  conjecture,  strike  a  blow  at  the  constitution?  The  speaker 
became  impassioned.  His  appeal  was  cheered,  and  the  tories 
responded  with  warmth.  Sir  Eobert  Peel  concluded  with  dep- 
recating discussion,  and  expressing  a  hope  that  the  mover  would 
withdraw  his  proposition.  I  have  no  person  now  in  my  recollec- 
tion, whose  manner  is  like  that  of  Sir  Robert  Peel,  except  it  be 
Mr.  J.  C.  S.,  in  some  of  his  expostulations  with  a  house,  the  ma- 
jority of  whom  are  opposed  to  him.  But  there  was  in  the  Eng- 
lish orator's  address,  on  this  occasion,  no  evidence  of  that  deep 
and  varied  universal  learning  and  reading,  which  distinguishes 
even  the  most  common  of  Mr.  S.'s  efforts.  In  one  respect  it  dif- 
fered from  anything  we  see  in  our  legislature.  The  speaker  is 
surrounded  by  his  audience ;  they  resemble  rather  a  popular 
than  a  representative  assembly.  The  manner  is  less  studied,  less 
restrained,  and  more  impassioned,  than  that  always  adopted  by 
speakers  in  our  legislature.  It  was  evident  that  the  champion 
of  the  tories  had  made  a  decided  impression  upon  the  house.  He 
sat  down  amid  the  cheers  of  his  partisans.  In  one  minute,  the 
whole  effect  of  his  brilliant  effort  was  destroyed  by  one  of  those 
homely  occurrences  which,  being  well-timed,  quickly  restore  the 
equilibrium  in  a  popular  assembly.  Colonel  Hay,  a  firm-looking, 
middle-aged  man,  of  martial  appearance,  and  no  pretensions  to 
parliamentary  display,  answered  the  baronet  by  a  speech  much 
shorter  and  equally  impassioned  :  "  I  think,"  said  he,  "  that  when 
a  bill  is  under  consideration  in  either  house  of  Parliament,  so 
vitally  important  to  the  interests,  and  so  deeply  interesting  to 
the  feelings  of  the  country,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  members  of  this 
house  to  be  at  their  posts.  We  know  members  are  not  here  now 
— we  know  they  ought  to  be  here  —  and  I  therefore  hope  the 
mover  will  not  withdraw  his  motion."  This  speech  was  warmly 
applauded.     The  tories  in  their  turn  were  silent. 

A  gentleman  who  sat  in  the  centre  of  the  hall,  of  a  sturdy 
frame,  a  broad  Irish  countenance,  now  arose,  and  commanded 
the  most  perfect  attention  by  one  of  those  bold  expressions  of 
indignant  contempt,  which  are  seldom  used  in  parliamentary 
discussions.  "  I  hate,"  said  Daniel  O'Connell,  "  all  kinds  of 
hypocrisy.  A  reformed  parliament  professes  to  be  the  friend  of 
Ireland,  and  of  reforming  the  oppression  under  which  my  coun- 


LONDON.  569 

try  labors.  This  bill  will  do  but  very  little  toward  effecting  that 
reform,  but  it  is  all  that  ministers  have  offered.  Although  it  is 
only  an  instalment  of  what  I  want,  I  do  n't  want  it  thrown  out 
of  the  house  of  lords,  because  it's  all  that  I  can  get.  I  want 
now  to  see  the  members  of  the  house  of  this  reformed  parliament 
here,  that  their  sincerity  may  be  tested.  Therefore,  I  shall  vote 
for  the  motion.  It  has  been  said  that  there  is  no  precedent  for  a 
measure  of  this  kind  in  the  history  of  the  commons.  How  could 
there  be  a  precedent,  when  for  the  last  century  the  house  of 
commons  have  been  only  a  department  of  the  house  of  lords, 
their  nominees  and  representatives.  They  durst  not  vote  against 
their  masters.  I  am  as  much  opposed  to  the  bill  as  anybody,  but 
I  don't  want  to  see  it  thrown  out.  I  want  to  see  whether  the 
people  are  not  stronger  than  the  enemies  of  the  people."  [Cries 
of  "Why  did  you  vote  against  the  bill  if  you  want  it  to  pass?" 
echoed  from  all  sides  of  the  house ;  to  which  O'Connell  replied, 
"  that  was  a  different  thing  altogether."]  "  He  wanted  a  better 
bill,  he  would  not  vote  for  this,  he  hated  all  political  hypocrisy, 
and,  inasmuch  as  the  government  had,  as  a  matter  of  grace,  prof- 
fered this  bill,  he  wished  to  see  the  responsibility  of  its  defeat  fall 
where  it  ought." 

It  was  obvious  that  everybody  admired  the  boldness  and  the 
force  of  this  homely  address  by  an  eloquent  man,  but  it  was 
equally  obvious  that  the  speaker  found  no  sympathies  among  his 
hearers,  nor  was  it  more  difficult  to  see  that  the  very  freedom  of 
his  speech  arose  from  the  consciousness  that  he  stood  alone  be- 
tween belligerent  parties,  in  neither  of  whom  could  his  country- 
men place  confidence.     O'Connell  more  resembles  General  R 

than  any  of  the  American  debaters  whom  I  have  seen,  and  the 
triumph  enjoyed  by  both  whigs  and  tories  over  his  inconsistency, 
was  not  unlike  that  with  which  the  modern  republicans  exulted 
when  they  discovered,  a  year  ago,  similar  error  on  the  part  of  the 
Delaware  chief. 

Mr.  O'Connell  was  followed  by  Colonel  Evans,  an  impetuous 
and  obtrusive  speaker,  who  is  one  of  the  multitude  who  speak 
always,  and  utter  nothing  but  commonplace.  Mr.  Dennison,  a 
new  member  (the  same  who  formerly  visited  America),  followed 
in  opposition  to  the  motion.  He  was  of  the  ministerial  side,  but 
he  was  opposed  to  the  measure  proposed  as  unnecessary,  undig- 
nified, and  impolitic.     Mr.  D.  is  a  school-boy — his  declamation 


570  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

is  affected  and  pedantic.  He  excited  no  interest,  although 
his  remarks  were  just ;  the  reason  was  that  his  manner  was  un- 
natural. He"  delivered  truisms  as  new  theories  and  trifles,  with 
the  pomp  of  grave  doctrines.  Unfortunately,  Mr.  D.  has  so 
many  imitators  in  all  deliberative  bodies  that  I  need  not  specify 
any.  You  will  have  perceived  that  the  debate  had  taken  a  singu- 
lar course.  The  motion  was  undoubtedly  made  for  the  purpose 
of  supporting  the  whig  ministry.  The  tories,  instead  of  challen- 
ging a  trial  of  strength,  begged  the  mover  to  withdraw  it.  The 
radicals  only  appeared  to  be  zealous  for  the  motion,  while  the 
whigs  deprecated  it  as  a  measure  of  doubtful  expediency.  Lord 
Ebrington,  a  very  dull  speaker,  advocated  the  motion,  and  begged 
the  mover  not  to  withdraw  it.  When  he  concluded,  a  gentleman 
apparently  of  about  thirty  years  of  age,  who  sat  opposite  to  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  obtained  the  floor.  The  speaker  seemed  too  young 
to  grapple  in  such  a  debate.  His  voice  was  musical,  but  seemed 
too  weak  for  such  a  contest.  He  was  graceful  in  his  manner  and 
perfectly  self  possessed.  He  commenced  in  a  strain  of  the  mild- 
est compliment,  and  acknowledgment  of  the  favor  intended  by 
the  mover  to  be  conferred  upon  the  minority.  "  Who  is  that 
young  man  ?"  said  I.  "  That  is  Mr.  Stanley,"  was  the  reply. 
Would  you  inquire  who  of  our  American  speakers  is  like  Stan- 
ley ?  I  answer  none.  In  the  elegance  and  grace  of  his  delivery 
he  excels  Webster — in  force  and  originality  he  falls  far  below 
Clay.  He  has  no  imagination  but  much  good  sense.  Poor  Sir 
John  Wrottlesey  rose  again  to  withdraw  his  motion.  O'Connell 
threw  himself  upon  his  reserved  rights,  demanded  that  the  mo- 
tion should  be  put,  again  expressed  for  both  whigs  and  tories  the 
same  haughty  contempt,  and  sat  down  unconquered  by  the  com- 
bination. Sir  John  Russell,  a  plain  man  of  good  sense,  defended 
his  vote  against  the  motion  and  in  support  of  the  ministry.  The 
cries  were  increased,  " Divide!"  "Divide!"  "No!"  "No!" 
until  all  was  confusion.  With  some  effort  the  speaker  succeeded 
in  obtaining  silence.  The  question  was  read  from  the  chair. 
Immediately  the  doorkeepers  made  proclamation,  requiring 
strangers  to  withdraw.  I  followed  the  crowd  of  strangers  into 
an  adjacent  apartment.  The  members  then  divided,  and  the 
motion  was  lost  by  a  great  vote.  On  going  into  the  lobby,  as 
with  us  it  would  be  called,  I  found  a  kind  of  eating-house,  where 
divers  of  the  honorable  members  were  refreshing  themselves.     T 


LONDON.  571 

inquired  of  them  the  reason  for  excluding  spectators  during  the 
vote.  They  answered,  "  So  that  the  numbers  of  members  might 
be  more  accurately  ascertained."  Does  it  not  seem  strange  to- 
you,  that  in  the  English  house  of  commons,  they  have  not  yet 
learned  the  convenience  of  having  a  roll,  and  taking  the  votes  of 
the  house  by  ayes  and  noes  ?  When  we  returned  to  the  house 
the  seats  were  almost  unoccupied ;  not  more  than  twenty  or  thirty 
members  were  in  their  places  :  the  house  was  in  committee  upon 
bills  which  excited  no  interest,  and  the  debates  could  with  diffi- 
culty be  heard.  We,  therefore,  shortened  our  stay,  and  a  visit  to- 
Drury-Lane  theatre  concluded  the  labors  and  pleasures  of  the 
day. 

The  next  day  we  set  apart  to  visit  the  house  of  lords.  But 
this  was  a  less  easy  affair  than  to  make  one's  way  into  the  house 
of  commons.  The  American  charge  d'affaires  had  informed  us 
that  the  course  generally  adopted  by  our  countrymen,  who  had 
time,  was  to  obtain  an  order  from  a  peer,  or  from  the  secretary 
for  foreign  affairs,  but  either  of  these  required  one  or  two  days* 
Money  will  not  admit  to  the  house  of  lords.  We  repaired  to 
the  ante-chamber,  and  as  other  Americans  had  done  before  me,  1 
wrote  a  note  on  a  card  to  the  lord-chancellor,  stating  that  two 
American  gentlemen  (giving  our  names)  were  desirous  to  be  ad- 
mitted as  spectators  of  the  sitting  of  the  lords.  This  card  I  gave 
to  one  of  the  attendants,  who  rudely  returned  it  to  me  without 
reading  it,  saying,  "  Never  carry  cards  to  members."  I  returned 
to  the  committee-room,  and  wrote  the  same  communication  in 
the  form  of  a  note,  returned  and  handed  it  to  the  attendant,  who- 
told  me  that  the  house  was  not  yet  organized,  and  I  might  de- 
liver the  note  in  person  to  his  lordship.  This  was  rather  a  for- 
midable business.  But  I  knew  too  much  of  the  good  sense  of 
Lord  Brougham,  and  had  heard  too  much  of  his  urbanity  to  our 
countrymen,  to  fear  that  he  would  give  me  an  ungracious  recep- 
tion. I  entered  his  chamber,  but  instead  of  finding  him,  was 
informed  that  he  would  not,  to-day,  attend  the  house.  Here  was 
new  trouble.  On  my  way  back  through  the  narrow  corridor,  I 
encountered  a  new  and  more  gracious  guide,  who  introduced  me 
to  the  usher  of  the  black  rod,  to  whom  I  communicated  my  de- 
sire, as  a  stranger,  to  see  the  house  of  lords.  He  very  kindly 
obtained  an  order  immediately,  and  we  were  soon  at  the  bar  of 
the  house.     The  chamber  of  the  lords  is  more  splendid  than  that 


572  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

of  the  commons ;  but  is  far  inferior  to  our  assembly  chamber. 
The  seats  consist  of  benches  covered  with  thin  cushions.  At 
the  upper  end  of  the  hall  is  a  throne  elevated  above  the  floor, 
the  woolsack  is  immediately  before  it,  is  upon  the  level  of  the 
other  seats,  and  is  literally  a  sack  of  wool  covered  with  red  cloth 
like  the  seats.  The  usher  of  the  black  rod,  who  is  a  baron,  was 
a  well-looking  gentleman,  dressed  in  black,  and  wearing  a  sword. 
He  gave  me  a  convenient  place,  and  named  the  lords  as  they  en- 
tered the  chamber.  The  Duke  of  Wellington,  Lord  Grey,  Lord 
Lyndhurst,  Lord  Ellenborongh,  and  the  Duke  of  Richmond.  The 
lords  were  not  distinguished  by  their  dress  from  other  gentlemen. 
The  bishops,  however,  all  wore  their  canonical  robes.  There  was 
nothing  so  grave  and  severe  as  I  had  expected  to  see  in  this  meet- 
ing of  the  aristocracy  of  the  land.  The  chair  was  occupied  by  a 
lord  pro  tern. ;  some  petitions  were  presented,  and  the  house 
adjourned  without  transacting  business.  It  was  said  that  the 
Marquis  of  Westminster  gave  a  great  party  in  the  evening,  and 
both  houses,  therefore,  adjourned  at  an  early  hour. 

While  the  disproportionate  numbers,  the  narrow  accommo- 
dations, and  the  noisy  conduct  of  business,  is  less  favorable 
to  the  despatch  of  business,  as  well  as  to  calm  deliberation, 
than  the  smaller  number  of  members,  and  the  better  arrange- 
ments in  our  capitols,  I  have  no  doubt  they  contribute  to  pro- 
duce a  more  animated  and  eloquent  style  of  debate.  Con- 
trary to  all  previous  anticipation,  I  found  the  house  of  commons 
more  nearly  resemble  a  crowded  popular  American  caucus  than 
one  of  our  legislative  bodies.  There  is  no  speaking  from  mem- 
ory; much  vigor  is  given  to  debate  by  the  personal  interest 
■evinced  by  all  the  members.  One  will  necessarily  speak  much 
better  who  is  cheered  when  he  speaks  well,  while  one  who  can 
not  speak  well,  will  soon  cease  to  obtrude  himself  against  the 
obstructions  thrown  in  the  way  of  the  dull  and  stupid.  The 
whole  scene  is  full  of  excitement  and  encouragement  for  the 
ardent,  and  of  discouragement  to  the  dull  and  prosing.  In  the 
lords  I  had  no  opportunity  to  hear  any  debate.  The  lord- 
primate  of  Ireland  made  a  few  remarks  on  presenting  a  petition, 
and  called  for  some  explanation  from  the  prime  minister,  who 
replied  in  a  conversational  tone  and  manner.  I  was  agreeably 
disappointed  in  finding  the  whole  appearance  of  the  lords  less 
affected  and  pompous  than  I  had  anticipated. 


LONDON.  573- 

I  have  described  at  so  great  length  my  visit  to  Covent-Garden 
theatre,  that  it  would  be  unpardonable  to  detain  you  by  a  par- 
ticular detail  of  the  exhibition  at  Drury-Lane.  It  was  altogether 
musical,  and  consisted  of  a  concert,  in  which  Signor  Paganini 
was  the  principal  performer.  He  played  solely  upon  the  violin, 
but  pieces  of  rare  difficulty  and  beauty.  I  found  that  just  now 
Signor  Paganini  is  the  fashion,  and  everybody  acts  as  ridiculous- 
ly here  as  some  do  in  America  when  it  becomes  the  fashion  to 
worship  a  new  theatrical  star.  Among  other  ridiculous  things, 
the  fashionable  world  is  agitated  by  a  report  that  Signor  Paga- 
nini is  to  be  married  to  an  English  lady  of  great  beauty  and 
wealth.  He  is  apparently  fifty  years  old,  and  as  uninteresting  a 
man  in  his  appearance  as  you  will  find  among  a  thousand.  I  can 
not  believe  even  London  contains  any  female  so  extravagant  a 
devotee  to  fashion,  as  to  fall  in  love  with  so  unprepossessing  a 
being,  merely  because  he  plays  well  on  the  violin. 

I  have  yet  many  other  things  to  tell  you  about  London,  but  I 
find  my  letters  so  prolix  that  I  must  finish  here.  We  have  visit- 
ed many  other  places  than  those  I  have  mentioned,  especially 
the  parks,  the  prisons,  and  several  places  interesting  from  histori- 
cal association.  Of  all  these  we  will  talk  when  we  meet.  To- 
morrow we  bid  adieu  to  England.  You  see  how  rapidly  we 
proceed,  and  therefore  you  can  not  doubt  how  anxious  we  are 
to  return  to  America.  We  have  found  the  English  people  all 
they  are  represented  to  be,  as  concerns  their  devotion  to  their 
government,  with  all  its  absurdities  of  a  religious  establishment, 
hereditary  aristocracy  and  monarchy.  There  are  no  bold  think- 
ers, no  theorists,  no  republicans.  We  have  found  the  common 
people  less  intelligent,  and  possessing  fewer  of  the  luxuries  of 
life,  than  our  countrymen,  but  we  have  found  them  cheerful  in. 
their  ignorance,  loyal  and  contented.     Adieu. 


574  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 


LETTEE  X. 

HOLLAND,    &C. 

The  Hague,  July,  1833. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  By  the  date  of  this  letter  you  will  perceive  that 
I  have  availed  myself  of  the  opportunity  offered  me  to  visit  the 
Netherlands,  a  country  of  which  we  have  conversed  so  much  and 
so  often. 

We  find  travelling  in  Holland  an  agreeable  relief  from  the 
exactions  to  which  we  were  continually  subject  in  England.  The 
rate  of  passage  on  board  the  canal-boat  is  about  two  stivers  a 
mile,  but  wo  to  the  traveller  who  is  so  unwise  as  we  are,  and 
encumbers  himself  with  baggage.  It  has  hitherto  cost  more  for 
the  porters'  fees  from  boat  to  boat,  than  our  own  fare  from  town 
to  town.  The  scenery  on  the  banks  of  the  canal,  though  destitute 
of  everything  like  natural  beauty  or  variety,  is  interesting  beyond 
conception.  The  banks  are  adorned  with  neat,  tasteful  villas, 
and  pavilions,  and  tea-houses,  shaded  by  elms  and  rich  orchards. 
Abundance  and  ease  seem  to  be  the  lot  of  the  inhabitants.  "When 
we  pass  a  little  village,  people  are  seen  at  almost  all  hours  of  the 
day  drinking  coffee,  and  reading  news  or  books,  under  the  shade- 
trees.  Every  farmhouse  and  country-seat  on  the  banks  of  the 
canal,  has  a  shady  avenue,  conducting  to  a  tasteful  and  romantic 
little  pavilion,  which  overhangs  the  canal,  and  in  the  afternoon 
is  occupied  by  the  ladies  of  the  family ;  between  these  and  the 
voyagers  a  kindly  salute  always  takes  place.  In  short,  my  dear 
sir,  this,  your  fatherland,  is  the  first  country  I  have  visited  in 
which  all  looks  like  enjoyment  without  luxury,  and  taste  without 
affectation. 

From  Eotterdam  to  Delft  is  a  distance  of  about  thirteen  miles, 
but  this  we  had  to  ascertain  by  calculation.     The  canal-boat  is 


HOLLAND.  575 

drawn  by  one  horse,  and  goes  at  the  rate  (including  stopping  on 
the  way)  of  three  miles  an  hour.  The  journey  is  made  with  the 
greatest  punctuality,  but  the  boatman,  or  the  driver  of  a  dili- 
gence, can  not  be  induced,  either  by  "fear,  favor,  affection,  or 
hope  of  reward,"  to  accomplish  his  task  one  minute  short  of  the 
time,  which  custom  has  so  entirely  sanctioned,  that  whenever 
you  ask  the  distance  from  place  to  place,  the  answer  always  gives 
you  the  number  of  hours  which  are  required  to  accomplish  the 
journey. 

When  we  had  been  about  two  hours  on  the  canal,  we  arrived 
at  a  little  village  with  one  street  running  along  the  bank.  Our 
captain  pushed  the  boat  to  the  shore,  left  it,  and  proceeded  to  a 
stand  where  a  woman  had  her  coffee  in  readiness  under  the  shade 
of  the  elms.  Here  we  lounged  about  fifteen  minutes,  admiring  the 
remarkable  neatness  of  the  dwellings,  as  well  as  their  antiquity 
and  striking  resemblance  to  those  of  the  Dutch  settlers  in  New 
York.  Then  we  re-embarked,  and  renewing  the  tobacco  in  our 
pipes,  proceeded  on  our  voyage.  We  observed  that,  when  we 
met  boats  the  tow-line  was  raised  so  as  to  pass  over. instead  of 
under  them,  as  on  our  canals.  This  is  doubtless  far  more  incon- 
venient than  the  manner  adopted  by  us,  but  the  tenacity  of  the 
Dutch  to  their  own  ancient  customs  is  proverbial.  We  found, 
here,  many  things,  the  novelty  of  which  excited  our  surprise. 
One  of  these  is  the  great  number  of  storks  throughout  the  country. 
They  serve  as  scavengers,  and  are  preserved  with  great  care  by 
means  of  municipal  regulations,  as  well  as  a  kind  of  superstitious 
regard  entertained  for  them  by  the  peasantry.  The  road  from 
Rotterdam  to  Delft  runs  along  the  banks  of  the  canal.  The  outre 
appearance  of  the  rope-harness,  the  clumsy  carriages,  in  form 
resembling  those  of  our  own  country,  but  made  in  the  fashions 
which  prevailed  among  us  twenty  years  ago,  excited  no  little 
interest,  and  we  certainly  could  not  withhold  our  surprise  when 
we  saw  military  officers,  evidently  of  respectable  rank,  with  pipes 
puffing  the  smoke  from  their  mustaches  into  the  faces  of  their 
wives  and  mistresses,  while  making  an  afternoon  excursion. 
We  became  aware  of  our  entrance  to  Delft  only  by  the  greater 
compactness  of  suburbs,  which  had  extended  for  miles.  Splendid 
villas  and  pavilions  became  more  frequent.  At  length  we 
passed  the  arsenals,  very  ancient  edifices,  bearing  the  arms  of 
the   Netherlands,  and  mottoes   which    we    could   not  translate. 


57C  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE 

Delft,  although  a  town  of  only  thirteen  thousand  inhabitants,  is 
no  unimportant  place.  It  derives  no  mean  distinction  from  being 
the  birth-place  of  Grotius,  and  the  busing-place  of  the  family  of 
the  prince  of  Orange.  In  one  of  the  antique  churches  is  the 
mausoleum  of  William  of  Nassau,  the  Liberator  of  Holland.  He 
is  represented  lying  upon  the  monument  with  his  faithful  dog  at 
his  feet.  In  the  same  church  is  the  tomb  of  Grotius;  and  in 
another  church  is  that  of  the  brave  Admiral  Van  Tromp.  One 
of  the  steeples  was  pointed  to  us,  affording,  from  its  tower,  a  fine 
view  of  the  country.  Such  views  are  exceedingly  rare  in  Hol- 
land, and,  therefore,  must  be  very  gratifying  to  those  who  have 
the  enterprise  to  climb  towers  and  windmills  to  obtain  them. 
Thus  far  we  have  seen  not  even  a  hillock.  All  is  one  dead  level 
as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  and  the  fields  are  principally  occu- 
pied as  pasturages.  In  every  direction  the  country  is  inter- 
sected by  canals,  the  banks  of  which  are  elevated  so  as  to  prevent 
inundation.  These  canals  have  no  other  locks  than  guard-locks, 
and  the  water  being  constantly  flowing  to  and  from  the  ocean r 
the  canals  are  kept  perfectly  clean  and  wholesome. 

We  traversed  the  streets  of  Delft,  which  are  not  dissimilar  to 
those  of  Rotterdam,  except  in  the  greater  antiquity  and  sim- 
plicity of  the  dwellings.  The  same  broad  streets,  canals,  and 
rows  of  elms,  the  same  quiet  and  untroubled  appearance  of  the 
people,  render  it  a  pleasing  place.  We  surveyed  the  piles  of 
heavy  artillery,  fabricated  and  stored  here,  and  then  proceeded 
to  the  north  side  of  the  town,  where  the  canal-boat  was  in  readi- 
ness to  bring  us  to  the  Hague.  At  Delft  I  remarked,  as  at  Rot- 
terdam and  here,  a  singular  custom.  Most  of  the  houses  have 
mirrors  affixed  to  the  wall,  and  projecting  into  the  streets,  so  as 
to  reflect  the  persons  of  those  who  traverse  the  road.  The  Dutch 
ladies  take  their  seats  at  the  windows,  with  their  sewing  and 
knitting-work,  and  thus,  without  obtruding  their  heads  from  the 
windows,  by  means  of  the  two  reflectors,  have  notice  of  what  is 
passing  in  the  streets.  I  remarked  several  buildings,  in  which 
every  window,  even  to  the  third  story,  is  thus  furnished  with 
reflectors.  And  not  unfrequently  have  I  encountered,  in  a 
mirror,  the  face  of  a  lady  whose  person  was  concealed  from  view. 

After  a  promenade  through  Delft,  we  entered  a  new  canal-boat, 
and  passing  through  a  succession  of  scenes  similar  to  those 
already  described,  and  which  yet  seemed  to  belong  to  a  land 


HOLLAND.  577 

of  rather  romance  than  reality,  we  arrived  at  half  past  four 
o'clock  at  this  town,  the  capital  of  the  Low  Countries.  Our  en- 
trance was  through  a  singularly  beautiful  street,  adorned  with 
elms,  and  affording  a  delightful  promenade,  where  people  of 
taste  and  fashion,  as  well  as  many  of  the  humble  classes,  were 
enjoying  the  luxuries  of  the  coffeehouses,  or  sitting  upon  benches 
regarding  the  passing  boats.  Our  captain  left  us,  of  course,  at 
the  entrance  of  the  town,  and  we  proceeded  with  the  porter,  who 
took  our  baggage  to  the  hotel  de  Bellevue,  at  the  other  side  of 
the  town.  The  hotel  de  Bellevue  (hotel  of  the  fine  prospect),  so 
the  house  is  called,  although  it  is  surrounded  by  canals,  and 
although  you  can  not  see  half,  a  mile  from  its  turrets,  is,  never- 
theless, properly  named.  It  fronts  upon  a  park,  and  thus  affords 
a  view  of  the  promenades  and  parade-grounds.  A  splendid  and 
truly  excellent  house  is  the  hotel  de  Bellevue.  Scarcely  were 
our  effects  bestowed  in  our  comfortable  chambers,  and  orders- 
given  for  our  dinner,  before  the  keeper  of  the  house  presented  a 
printed  sheet,  in  which,  in  pursuance  of  law,  we  were  required 
to  insert  our  respective  names,  ages,  places  of  birth  and  residence, 
our  destination,  and  our  object  in  visiting  the  dominions  of  his 
most  sacred  majesty  the  good  King  William.  Having  given  this 
report,  and  sent  our  passports  to  the  police,  we  proceeded  to 
view,  in  this  town,  the  most  beautiful  and  delightful  place  we 
have  yet  seen  in  Europe.  The  Hague  contains  a  population  of 
about  forty  thousand.  It  is  fortified,  but  not  by  walls.  Instead 
of  walls,  it  is  surrounded  by  wide  deep  canals,  and  for  gates  it 
has  draw-bridges.  What  you  will  demand,  can  make  the  Hague 
so  beautiful  a  town  ?  It  is  that  the  whole  city  is  laid-out  taste 
fully  and  magnificently,  with  broad  streets  and  parks  —  that 
these  streets  present  none  but  spacious  and  splendid  edifices, 
each  of  which  rather  resembles  a  palace  than  a  dwelling-house, 
and  through  the  centre  of  the  streets,  broad,  clean,  deep  canals 
pass  under  the  shades  of  double  rows  of  elms  upon  each  side. 

Utrecht  is  about  twenty  miles  from  Amsterdam,  and  is  situated 
upon  a  branch  of  the  Rhine.  It  is  about  as  large  as  Albany,  but 
is  much  more  ancient  in  its  aspect.  It  is  strongly  fortified.  We 
entered  through  a  gate  which  is  surmounted  by  a  tower  in  which 
is  a  bell.  It  was  the  closing  day  of  the  annual  fair.  Booths 
were  erected  in  the  public  square,  and  theatres,  circuses,  gam- 
bling-houses, and  all  the  other  appurtenances  belonging  to  these 

Vol.  HI.— 37 


578  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

fetes,  which  are  common  in  every  part  of  western  Europe.  We 
strolled  through  the  market-grounds,  and  found  it  quite  impossi- 
ble, while  passing  the  shops,  to  resist  the  persuasion  of  the  fair 
Dutch  merchant- women,  who  bestowed  upon  the  English  myn- 
heers the  attentions,  which,  during  the  fair,  were  divided  among 
a  multitude  of  visiters.  Utrecht  is  renowned  for  having  been 
the  scene  of  the  union  of  the  provinces  in  1579.  In  1712  and 
1713,  the  general  congress  was  held  here,  the  labor  of  which 
terminated  in  the  treaty  for  the  pacification  of  Europe,  called  in 
history,  the  Peace  of  Utrecht.  In  the  palace,  or,  as  it  is  called 
in  French,  the  chateau  of  Loo,  is  still  preserved  the  pen  with 
which  this  treaty  was  written.  Utrecht  was  captured  by  the 
French  in  the  third  year  of  the  French  republic,  and  was,  during 
the  brief  reign  of  Louis  Bonaparte,  the  favorite  residence  of 
Hortense.  Its  university  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  in  Europe. 
Some  parts  of  the  town  are  exceedingly  beautiful,  and  every  part 
exhibits  the  characteristic  neatness  of  the  Dutch.  But  it  is  in 
its  environs  that  Utrecht  excels  all  other  towns  I  have  seen.  It 
seems  as  if  all  that  natural  fertility  could  render,  has  been  brought 
forth  to  crown  the  labor  which  immense  wealth  has  bestowed. 
In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Utrecht,  is  Zeyst,  a  town  estab- 
lished by  the  United  Moravian  brethren,  one  of  the  most  pure 
and  exemplary  societies  of  Christians  of  modern  times.  A  branch 
of  this  sect,  you  will  recollect,  exists  at  Bethlehem,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania. I  wish  it  were  in  my  power  to  give  you  an  idea  of  the 
beautiful  scene  we  witnessed  at  the  village  of  the  Three  Bells. 
It  was  about  one  o'clock  when  we  reached  the  Auberge,  where 
we  were  to  change  horses.  The  hotel  was  upon  the  bank  of  the 
river,  shaded  by  a  grove.  There  are,  perhaps,  twenty  houses, 
each  of  which  is  a  country-seat,  and  is  surrounded  by  gardens. 
The  village-church  is  an  interesting  antique  monument.  Tables 
were  arranged  before  the  door  of  the  Auberge,  and  numerous 
parties  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  were  enjoying  their  coffee  and 
cakes,  with  newspapers  and  books.  The  whole  scene  more 
resembled  the  descriptions  given  in  romances,  than  any  reality  I 
have  ever  before  seen. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  keep  a  record  of  the  villages  and  towns 
through  which  we  passed,  and  the  mere  catalogue  would  not 
interest  you,  even  had  I  been  able  to  understand  their  Dutch  ap- 
pelations.     I  remember  that  Rhening  is  a  town  hardly  as  large  as 


paris.  579 

Auburn,  which  looks  as  if  it  had  stood  unaltered,  half  a  dozen 
-centuries.  It  is  enclosed  by  a  wall,  and  has  all  the  characteristics 
so  often  mentioned  of  a  Dutch  town. 

About  fifteen  miles  after  leaving  Utrecht,  we  entered  upon 
that  part  of  the  country,  whence,  doubtless,  the  greater  part 
of  the  Dutch  settlers  of  New  York  emigrated.  This  was  evident 
from  the  exact  resemblance  of  the  farmhouses  and  barns  to  those 
upon  the  Mohawk.  In  England  and  Holland,  farmers  have 
much  more  rarely  than  in  America,  barns  for  the  storing  of 
grain  and  hay,  but  we  had  now  entered  a  tobacco-growing  dis- 
trict, and  we  found,  in  the  barns  constructed  for  storing  this  herb, 
the  exact  counterpart  of  the  Dutch  barn  in  America.  The  very 
same  plough,  mounted  upon  wheels,  now  discarded  in  New  York, 
is  the  only  one  in  use  here.  In  the  town  of  Wageningen,  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  in  Holland,  we  found  a  garden  called  the 
Rosendal,  which  reminded  us  of  the  furious  stream  of  the  same 
name  in  the  good  old  Dutch  county  of  Ulster. 


LETTEE  XL 

FROM  SENS   TO   PARIS ARRIVAL  AT   PARIS. 

Paris,  August,  1833. 

My  Dear  F :  Our  road  to  the  Pont  sur  Yonne  (the  bridge 

over  the  Yonne)  was  through  a  country  rich  in  vineyards.  From 
this  point  small  boats  descend  the  river,  by  a  slow  and  difficult 
navigation,  to  Paris.  In  my  walk  in  advance  of  the  carriage,  I 
overtook  a  man  who  had  charge  of  one  of  these  boats,  and  was 
going  to  the  place  where  it  had  been  freighted  to  commence  his 
voyage.  He  described  the  voyage  as  a  slow  one,  and  requiring 
much  preparation.  I  found  him  intelligent  upon  all  matters 
relating  to  his  business ;  and,  like  all  his  countrymen  with  whom 
1  have  met,  polite  and  desirous  to  gratify  my  curiosity.  How 
much  more  deservedly  would  Louis  XIV.  have  won  the  appella- 
tion of  le  Grand,  had  he  expended  a  little  of  the  treasure  wasted 
upon  foreign  conquests,  or  even  of  that  expended  upon  his  pal- 
aces, in  improving  the  facilities  for  internal  commerce.  After 
taking  breakfast  at  Montereau,  a  mean  village,  we  entered  the 


580  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE 

forest  of  Fontainebleau,  and  our  ride  for  the  residue  of  the  day 
was  within  its  shades.  It  was  a  subject  of  surprise  and"  regret 
when  we  found  that  our  route  left  Fontainebleau  on  the  left. 
That  place,  interesting  as  one  of  the  royal  residences,  but  still 
more  so  as  the  scene  where  Napoleon,  in  despair,  first  submit- 
ted to  his  destiny,  and  wrote  his  abdication  of  a  throne  won  and 
lost  by  the  sword,  had  been  a  prominent  object  of  our  antici- 
pated visit  in  taking  this  route  to  Paris.  But  it  was  not  in  our 
bond  with  our  conducteur,  and  we  were  compelled  to  postpone 
the  visit  until  another  time.  The  forest  of  Fontainebleau  is  much 
more  imposing  in  poetry  and  romance  than  in  reality.  It  is  a 
part  of  the  royal  domain  appurtenant  to  the  chateau  of  Fontaine- 
bleau. The  wood  being  periodically  cut  off  when  it  arrives  at 
sufficient  maturity  to  be  profitably  used,  it  has  none  of  the 
imposing  grandeur  and  solitude  of  our  native  forests.  And  the 
green  grass  under  the  trees  is  but  a  poor  compensation  for  the 
inequality  of  surface,  the  underwood  and  fallen  timber  of  the 
American  woods.  Nothing,  it  is  said,  is  more  ludicrous  in  the 
eyes  of  our  countrymen  than  the  royal  sporting  in  these  forests : 
the  deer  are  tame,  they  are  not  without  exertion  set  to  flight ; 
the  dogs  imbibe  the  dullness  of  court  society,  and  exhibit  little 
eagerness  for  the  chase,  while  the  pursuit  by  the  mounted  party, 
instead  of  deriving  excitement  from  the  leaping  of  bars  and 
ditches,  is  a  fashionable  promenade  a  cheval.  When  the  mon- 
arch, or  the  heirs  of  royalty,  as  Pindar  says,  are  "  weary  of  wor- 
rying the  poor  defenceless,  harmless  buck,"  the  grooms  overtake 
the  game,  the  party  come  in  at  the  death,  and  the  sports  of  the 
day  are  ended.  We  entered  Melun  in  the  evening,  and  rested 
there  during  the  night.  This  town  contains  eight  thousand  in- 
habitants, and  is  one  of  the  handsomest  through  which  we  passed. 
The  buildings  are  more  modern,  and  the  streets  much  more  neatr 
than  in  other  towns.  But,  after  all,  none  of  the  small  towns  in 
France  can  be  compared,  in  point  of  beauty,  with  the  villages  in 
New  England  and  New  York.  You  lose  the  contrast  of  the 
white-painted  dwellings  and  the  verdure  of  court-yards,  and  the 
architecture  is  of  the  very  worst  taste  and  ruinous  in  aspect. 
Melun  contains  nothing  to  interest  the  traveller,  except  its  beau- 
tiful situation  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  and  its  promenades.  At 
seven  o'clock  on  Tuesday  morning,  we  resumed  our  journey 
through  a  level  and  not  particularly  interesting  country.     As  we 


PARIS.  581 

approached  the  metropolis,  the  number  of  villages  increased,  but 
they  afforded  nothing  gratifying  to  the  eye  or  the  curiosity.  In 
my  walk  through  them,  I  noticed,  as  I  had  often  done  before,  the 
irreverence  with  which  sacred  names  are  used,  not  in  conversa- 
tion, but  in  their  application  to  taverns  and  other  places :  for 
instance,  we  passed  the  "  Hotel  de  Saint  Esprit,"  and  the  "  Hotel 
de  la  Grace  de  Dieu." 

We  stopped  for  breakfast  at  eleven  o'clock,  at  the  little  village  of 
Mongeneaux.  As  this  was  our  laststopping-place  before  arriving 
at  Paris,  the  hour  while  our  meal  was  being  prepared,  was  em- 
ployed in  the  exchange  of  cards,  and  the  reciprocation  of  parting 
sympathies  between  us  and  our  fellow-travellers.  On  again 
entering  the  voiture,  one  common  curiosity  prevailed  over  every 
other  feeling,  and  all  eagerly  looked  to  obtain  the  first  view  of  the 
great  city.  For  the  first  time  we  saw  numerous  villas,  chateaux, 
and  country-seats;  and  at  the  distance  of  three  leagues  from 
Paris,  the  villages  are  so  large  and  nearly  connected,  as  to  seem 
^continued  suburbs.  Nothing  can  be  meaner  than  the  appearance 
of  the  Seine  and  its  boats.  The  country  is  level,  and  the  river 
in  size  hardly  greater  than  the  Owasco.  The  few  boats  are  pro- 
pelled by  poles.  It  was  at  Challenton  that  we  crossed  the  Seine, 
and  as  we  arrived  upon  the  bridge,  our  conducteur  pointed  to 
towers  and  dome  in  the  bright  perspective,  and  exclaimed : 
"  Yoila  Paris,  Messieurs !"  The  dome  which  we  saw  was  that  of 
the  Pantheon,  and  the  towers  were  those  of  Notre  Dame.  I 
hardly  know  which  of  our  little  party  was  most  excited  by  this 
first  and  distant  view  of  the  great  city.  Our  Genevese  girls  had 
all  the  curiosity  of  their  time  of  life  (not  to  say  sex)  to  see  the 
seat  of  fashion,  literature,  and  power,  of  which  in  their  native 
Switzerland  they  had  never  ceased  to  hear.  Besides  this,  their 
parents  were  impatiently  waiting  their  arrival.  The  Belgian  and 
his  bride  were  anticipating  the  continuance  of  their  honeymoon 
amid  the  splendors  of  Paris,  to  which  Belgium  now  stands  almost 
in  the  relation  of  a  province.  Even  our  conducteur,  who,  for  the 
last  one  or  two  days,  had  lost  his  equanimity  of  temper,  in  relating 
to  me  the  degeneracy  of  Paris  and  of  France  under  the  reign  of 
the  Canaille,  as  he  described  the  existing  order  of  things,  and  in 
lamenting  the  national  glory  buried  in  the  grave  of  Napoleon, 
had  a  wife  and  children  to  whom  he  was  soon  to  be  reunited. 
But  we  were  all  impatience  to  see  the  city  whose  history  was 


582  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

identified  with  all  the  stirring  and  miraculous  history  of  the  age 
in  which  we  live.  Besides,  Paris  was  the  climax  of  all  the  inter- 
est our  travels  were  to  afford.  It  was  the  last  stage  of  our  jour- 
ney before  our  return  to  America  and  our  homes.  There  we 
expected  to  find  tbe  letters  which  were  to  assure  us  whether 
those  homes  were  yet  happy  or  were  desolate.  Yielding  to  simi- 
lar feelings,  though  arising  from  different  associations,  a  general 
silence  pervaded  our  party.  The  three  leagues  of  distance  were 
speedily  passed,  and  we  were  aroused  from  our  revery  by  find- 
ing ourselves  at  the  barrier  of  the  city.  This  was  an  iron  railing 
across  the  street,  with  a  customhouse,  where  our  baggage  was 
again  inspected,  in  order  to  secure  the  duties  levied  upon  articles 
of  commerce  of  every  kind,  brought  into  the  city.  Here,  also, 
was  a  small  police  establishment,  with  a  guard  selected  from  the 
gens-d'armes.  All  these  public  offices  and  military  stations 
bear  the  conspicuous  inscription,  "Liberie  et  ordre  publique" 
You  probably  recollect  the  history  of  these  words ;  once  those 
of  magic,  but  which,  like  other  high-sounding  phrases,  have  now 
become  familiar  as  household  words.  They  were  the  words  of 
Lafayette  in  the  national  assembly  in  the  first  revolution,  and 
were  his  motto  while  contending  for  actual  liberty  aud  perma- 
nent popular  institutions  in  opposition  to  the  anarchy  of  the  sans 
culottes.  The  motto  served,  for  almost  half  a  century,  no  other 
purpose  than  to  mark  the  peculiar  character,  and  lofty  yet  just 
views,  of  their  author.  Experience  seemed,  by  the  introduction 
of  the  temporary  governments,  the  consular  power  and  the  impe- 
rial throne,  to  have  proved  the  theory  of  government  which  they 
express  to  be  a  revery.  But,  in  the  revolution  of  the  three  daysr 
they  were  again  brought  forward  as  the  magic  words,  as  La- 
fayette was,  as  the  author  of  the  system  which  then  the  people 
hailed  as  the  renovation  of  their  country.  Louis  Philippe  adopted 
both,  but  has  been  untrue  to  the  one,  perhaps  from  a  desire  to 
be  true  to  the  other. 

No  stronger  evidence  need  be  mentioned  of  the  "  hoary  errors" 
of  government,  which  yet  remain  in  France,  than  the  barriers  at 
the  entrance  of  the  metropolis,  erected  to  secure  the  collection 
of  duties  levied  upon  every  article  of  consumption,  whether  of 
luxury  or  for  necessary  use,  which  duties  constitute  the  greater 
part,  if  not  the  entire,  revenues  of  the  city.  It  needs  no  more 
than  a  knowledge  of  the  difficulties  for  internal  communi cation y 


Paris.  583 

the  neglect  by  government  of  foreign  commerce,  and  the  exac- 
tions practised  upon  those  who  bring  articles  of  consumption  into 
even  market-towns,  to  satisfy  the  observer  of  the  true  reason  that, 
while  London  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  has  added  one  third 
to  its  population,  Paris  is  at  least  stationary,  if  it  be  not  retrogra- 
ding. While  we  were  at  the  barrier,  diligences,  omnibuses,  cab- 
rioles,  and  carts,  were  continually  arriving :  not  one  was  suffered 
to  enter  until  it  had  been  rigidly  examined.  After  this  vexatious 
interruption,  we  pursued  our  way  down  the  street  upon  the  bank 
of  the  Seine,  passing  on  one  side  the  Garden  of  Plants,  and  on 
,  the  other  the  Pont  oVAusterlitz  and  the  venerable  cathedral  of 
Notre  Dame ;  and  then  turning  into  a  narrow  street,  were  soon 
set  down  at  the  hotel  of  our  voiturier,  in  the  centre  of  the  oldest, 
busiest,  and  most  crowded  part  of  Paris.  The  mother  of  the 
Genevese  young  ladies  was  there  waiting  to  receive  them  and 
conduct  them  to  their  home.  While  fiacres  were  preparing  to 
conduct  our  party  to  their  separate  hotels,  my  two  young  friends 
presented  me  to  their  mother,  in  a  manner  which  expressed  mucli 
sense  of  obligation  for  kindnesses  and  attentions  which  I  had 
shown  them  on  the  journey.  The  fond  mother  spared  no  exer- 
tions to  interest  me  in  conversation,  and  bestowed  upon  me  a 
thousand  thanks,  to  which,  partly  because  I  felt  they  were  unde- 
served, and  partly  because  I  was  unable  to  sustain  a  conversation 
in  French  with  a  stranger,  in  any  way  corresponding  to  the 
warmth  which  she  expressed,  I  could  not  make  any  suitable  re- 
ply. I  perceived  at  once  that  the  kind  and  affectionate  lady 
thought  me  a  cold,  insensible  Englishman,  and  we  parted,  with 
the  old  lady's  invitation,  much  less  warmly  expressed  than  that 
of  her  daughters,  to  visit  them  in  their  house  in  the  faubourg  du 
Temple. 

In  half  an  hour  we  had  taken  our  rooms  in  the  hotel  Montmo- 
renci,  on  the  Boulevard  Montmartre,  one  of  the  finest  hotels,  and 
in  the  most  fashionable  part  of  the  city. 

Rejoice  with  me  that  I  have  brought  to  a  close  this  tedious 
account  of  one  of  the  most  delightful,  journeys  I  ever  made,  but 
which  I  have  been  unable  to  make  interesting,  because  of  the 
impossibility  of  describing,  so  as  to  give  any  just  idea  of  it,  the 
beautiful  vine-growing  regions  of  France,  or  the  hospitable  peas- 
antry who  inhabit  them. 

I  must,  at  the  hazard  of  writing  too  hastily  to  write  correctly, 


584  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

proceed  with  ray  notes  of  the  thousand  wonders  by  which  I  am 
surrounded.  I  prefer  to  write  while  the  impressions  are  vivid 
upon  my  memory,  and  before  the  feelings  have  passed  away 
which  the  objects  have  excited. 

Is  it  not  strange  that  from  the  first  I  regarded  Paris  without 
any  of  that  awe,  that  sense  of  nothingness,  which  rendered  Lon- 
don during  so  many  days  painful  to  me  ?  In  everything,  except 
mere  dimensions,  Paris  is  vastly  more  imposing  than  London.  Its 
palaces  and  its  monuments  are  incomparably  more  grand,  more 
splendid.  To  me  it  is  a  city  of  strangers  —  strangers  still  more 
than  the  people  of  London,  because  I  can  scarcely  master  enough 
of  the  language  to  make  my  feelings  or  my  desires  understood. 
Yet  so  it  is :  the  first  day  after  my  arrival  in  Paris,  a  stranger 
and  ignorant  of  the  language,  I  was  more  at  my  ease  than  I  could 
have  been  in  London  had  I  resided  there  until  this  time.  What 
is  the  reason  ?  It  is  the  absence  of  the  evidences  of  an  aristo- 
cratic or  artificial  state  of  society.  A  city  where  all  that  can 
attract  the  eye,  gratify  the  taste,  or  interest  the  curiosity,  seems 
accessible  to  all.  One  lives  without  restraint.  The  fact  of  his 
being  a  stranger  entitles  him  to  respect  and  attention,  and  his 
passport  is  his  best  and  sufficient  introduction  everywhere. 


LETTEK  XII. 

PARIS CHAMBER   OF   DEPUTIES — LOUIS   PHILIPPE,    &C. 

Paris,  September  8,  1833. 

My  Dear  F :   And  now,  supposing  you  in  one  of  our 

morning  walks  to  have  crossed  with  me  the  Pont  Louis  XVI., 
we  will  visit  the  chamber  of  deputies. 

The  chamber  of  deputies  was  originally  a  part  of  the  Palais 
(PElysee  Bouroon.  Subsequently  it  was  called  the  Palais  du 
Corps  Legislatif.  But  it  -has  undergone  many  and  frequent  al- 
terations, and  is  now,  as  well  in  exterior  as  in  interior,  a  splendid 
modern  edifice.  The  front,  toward  the  bridge  Louis  XYL,  con- 
sists of  twelve  massive  Corinthian  pillars,  surmounted  by  a  pedi- 
ment. In  the  pediment  is  a  bas-relief,  representing  Law  seated 
on  the  charter,  supported  by  Strength  and  Justice;  on  her  left, 


PARIS— LAFAYETTE.  585 

jpe&ce  is  conducting  Commerce.  Behind  this  group  the  rivers 
♦Seine  and  Marne  are  mingling  their  waters,  and  Abundance  ad- 
vances, followed  by  the  Arts,  and  Sciences.  The  ascent  is  adorned 
with  colossal  statues  of  Minerva  and  Themis.  On  the  summit 
are  statues  of  Sully,  Colbert,  and  D'Aguesseau.  There  are  in 
the  palace  two  large  courts,  and  numerous  apartments  for  the 
sitting  of  committees,  libraries,  public  records,  and  other  pur- 
poses. In  one  of  these  apartments  is  a  statue  in  marble  of  Louis 
Philippe,  in  the  attitude  of  taking  the  oath  to  support  the  charter 
•adopted  by  the  legislature.  The  decorations  of  all  the  apartments 
.are  splendid,  and  of  modern  taste,  and  indicate  a  great  devotion 
to  the  principles  of  liberal  government.  The  hall  of  the  chamber 
of  deputies  is  a  spacious  room,  lighted  from  the  dome.  On  one 
side  is  very  sumptuously  fitted  up  the  chair  of  the  president, 
which  is  sunk  within  a  curved  recess.  This  part  of  the  chamber 
is  decorated  with  appropriate  statues.  In  front  of  the  president's 
chair  are  the  clerks'  desks,  and  in  advance  of  these  is  the  tribune, 
from  which  members  address  the  house.  The  seats  of  the  mem- 
bers are  chairs,  with  small  desks,  permanently  attached  to  the 
floor,  and  arranged  in  concentric  segments  of  a  circle,  the  seats 
in  the  rear  being  elevated  higher  than  those  in  front.  On  the 
side  of  the  room  opposite  the  president's  chair  is  a  spacious  gal- 
lery for  spectators.  The  ministers,  when  in  attendance,  have  a 
bench  immediately  in  front  of  the  tribune.  The  whole  aspect  of 
the  room,  the  drapery  of  which  is  crimson,  is  magnificent  rather 
than  imposing.  I  thought.,  from  its  construction,  it  was  better 
-calculated  for  hearing  than  the  hall  of  representatives.  But  the 
seats  of  the  members  are  so  closely  crowded,  that  it  wants  the 
air  of  convenience  and  comfort,  not  to  say  grandeur,  of  the  as- 
sembly-room of  the  state  of  New  York,  to  which  it  is  inferior  in 
dimensions.  Parliament  is  not  now  in  session,  and  we  have  there- 
fore to  regret  the  privation  of  an  opportunity  of  witnessing  the 
debates  of  the  popular  assemblies  of  this  enthusiastic  and  elo- 
quent nation.  I  had  no  difficulty  in  finding  the  place  of  General 
Lafayette.  I  would  have  deemed  it  a  compensation  for  half  the 
trouble  and  expense  of  my  voyage  to  have  heard  this  venerable, 
unchanging  American  republican  address  the  representatives  of 
the  people  of  France.  You  will  permit  me  to  supply  the  place 
of  observations  of  my  own  upon  such  a  scene  by  the  following 
description  of  it  from  a  work  recently  published  here,  entitled 


586  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE 

"  France,"  by  Monsieur  Hayne.  I  can  not,  I  fear,  give  the  spirit 
of  the  original  in  my  translation :  — 

"  Lafayette  is  perhaps  the  most  important  speaker  of  the  chamber  of  deputies.  When 
he  speaks  he  always  strikes  the  nail  upon  the  head,  and  he  does  the  same  for  his  opponent. 
When  any  great  question  interesting  to  the  welfare  of  mankind  is  agitated,  Lafayette 
never  fails  to  rise  as  ardent  for  the  combat  as  a  young  man.  It  is  only  his  frame  that 
is  feeble  and  trembling,  worn  by  age  and  by  the  war  of  time,  like  an  old  suit  of  iron 
armor,  hacked  and  marred  ;  it  is  affecting  to  see  him  drag  his  weight  to  the  tribune, 
and  when  he  has  reached  his  ancient  post,  resume  at  once  his  breath  and  his  smile. 
That  smile,  the  manner  of  utterance,  and  the  whole  exterior  of  the  man  at  this  mo- 
ment, are  indescribable.  There  is  so  much  of  sincerity  and  yet  such  fine  irony  at  the 
same  moment,  that  one  feels  himself  enchained  as  by  some  curious  magic,  a  delightful 
enigma.  One  can  not  say  whether  his  is  the  aristocratic  manner  of  a  French  marquis, 
or  the  straightforward  open  simplicity  of  an  American  citizen.  All  the  good  side  of 
the  ancient  regime,  the  chivalry,  the  courtesy,  the  tact,  are  marvellously  mingled  with 
the  better  part  of  the  modern  common  people,  the  love  of  equality,  honesty,  and  the 
absence  of  pride.  Nothing  k,  more  interesting  than  when  some  member,  in  speaking 
of  the  early  period  of  the  Revolution,  and  with  a  self-sufficient  air  of  giving  instruction 
selects  a  single  fact  without  its  true  connection,  and  fashions  it  to  his  own  advantage 
in  an  argument,  to  see  Lafayette  destroy,  in  a  few  words,  all  the  sophistry,  re-estab- 
lishing the  fact  in  its  true  coloring,  and  giving  it  its  true  bearing  by  a  reference  to  all 
the  circumstances  with  which  it  was  connected.  Thiers  (one  of  the  ministers)  in  such 
a  case,  is  forced  to  set  sail  and  make  off,  and  the  great  historiographer  of  the  Revolu- 
tion bows  before  its  great,  its  living  monument — its  general,  Lafayette.  One  may  see 
in  the  chamber,  sitting  opposite  the  tribune,  a  man  as  old  as  the  stones  around  him, 
his  silver  hair  falls  upon  a  black  habit ;  he  is  girt  with  a  large  tri-colored  scarf.  This- 
is  the  old  messenger  who  has  filled  the  same  employment  in  the  chamber  since  the 
commencement  of  the  Revolution,  and  who,  in  that  situation,  has  added  to  the  gen- 
eral history  for  that  long  period,  from  the  first  national  assembly,  until  the  establish- 
ment of  the  juste  milieu.  It  is  said  that  he  yet  speaks  often  of  the  good  Monsieur  de 
Robespierre.  During  the  restoration,  the  good  old  man  had  the  colic,  but  since  he 
has  again  begirt  himself  with  the  tri-colored  scarf,  he  finds  himself  very  well.  His 
only  disease  is  his  inclination  to  sleep  during  these  dull  times  of  the  juste  milieu.     I 

have  myself  seen  him  sleeping  once  when  M was  speaking.     The  poor  man  had 

doubtless  heard  many  better  than  M who  is  about  the  best  of  the  opposition, 

speakers,  and  he  found  nothing  in  what  was  said  sufficiently  revolutionarv,  for  him 
who  had  been  well  acquainted  with  the  good  Monsieur  de  Robespierre  But  when 
Lafayette  speaks,  the  old  messenger  starts  instantly  from  his  slumbers,  and  appears  all 
animated  and  fierce  as  an  old  horse  of  the  dragoons  when  he  hears  the  trumpet.  A 
sweet  recollection  of  his  youthful  days  arises  in  his  mind,  and  he  inclines  his  head  and 
hoary  hair  with  eagerness." 

Louis  Philippe  has  had  a  series  of  pieces  painted,  illustrative 
of  every  important  incident  in  the  history  of  the  house  of  Orleans, 
and  connected  with  that  of  the  Palais  Royale.  Some  of  these, 
referring  to  events  in  the  life  of  Cardinal  Richelieu  (especially 
the  closing  scene),  are  very  interesting.  No  less  so  are  those  re- 
lating to  the  history  of  Anne  of  Austria  and  the  infancy  of  Louis 
XIV.  One  of  these  represents  the  scene  when  the  populace  of 
Paris,  excited  by  suspicions  and  alarms,  rushed  to  the  gates  of  the 
Palais  Royale  at  midnight,  clamoring  for  revenge  against  the 
queen-mother  and  her  ministers,  because  Louis  XIY.,  then  an 
infant,  had  been  sent  away,  as  they  said,  out  of  their  kingdom. 
The  queen,  hastily  hurrying  on  her  garments,  appeared  at  the 


PARIS— LOUIS  PHILIPPE.  587 

window,  and  commanded  them  to  send  in  the  mayor  and  other 
officers  of  the  city.  "When  they  had  entered,  she  showed  them 
to  the  apartment  where  the  young  king  was  quietly  sleeping,  un- 
concerned and  ignorant  of  the  excitement  which  his  supposed  ab- 
duction had  produced.  But  there  were  two  others  of  these  pictures 
still  more  gratifying  to  us  as  Americans.  One  of  these  represents 
Benjamin  Franklin,  American  minister  resident  at  the  court  of 
France  (to  obtain  an  acknowledgment  of  the  independence  of 
his  country),  received  at  the  Palais  Royale  by  the  duke  of  Orleans 
and  his  family.  The  mild,  philosophic  countenance  is  one  of  the 
best  portraits  I  have  ever  seen  of  our  illustrious  countryman. 
The  whole  scene  depicted  is  one  in  which  domestic  peace  and 
simplicity  of  manners  are  sought  to  be  portrayed,  instead  of  lux- 
uries inconsistent  with  the  character  of.  the  guest.  It  is  also  evi- 
dent that  with  great  good  sense  the  figure  of  Franklin  is  made 
most  prominent,  his  introduction  being  admitted  to  confer  more 
honor  on  his  princely  entertainers  than  himself.  Another  picture 
which  also  pleased  us  much  is  that  which  represents  Louis  Phil- 
ippe having  returned  to  France  in  1814,  after  his  wanderings  in 
America  and  England,  and  recovering  the  keys  of  the  Palais 
Royale.  He  is  represented  here  as  dressed  with  great  simplicity 
and  plainness.  Both  parental  and  kingly  pride  are  displayed  in 
the  selection  of  the  subject  of  a  third  picture,  which  represents 
Louis  Philippe  receiving  at  the  Palais  Royale  the  deputies  of  the 
Belgian  congress,  who  wait  upon  him  to  tender  to  him  the  throne 
of  that  country  for  his  son  the  duke  de  Nemours.  But  I  will 
not  delay  you  longer  in  describing  these  splendid  pictures. 

I  will  close  this  letter  by  a  few  facts  concerning  Louis  Phil- 
ippe. The  wealth  which  descended  to  him  is  immense,  and  I 
believe  he  is  considered  the  richest  man  in  France.  On  the  res- 
toration of  Louis  XYIIL,  these  immense  estates  were  restored  to 
him ;  but  there  was  necessary  a  confirmatory  grant,  which  was 
made  during  the  reign  and  at  the  instance  of  Charles  X.  The 
royalists  reproach  him  with  peculiar  ingratitude  to  the  latter 
monarch,  in  accepting  the  throne  from  which  his  benefactor  was 
banished,  and  still  more  for  leaving  Charles  and  his  family  to 
struggle  with  poverty ;  the  resources  of  that  monarch  being  un- 
derstood to  be  very  limited.  Doubtless  Louis  Philippe  was 
largely  indebted  to  his  immense  wealth  for  his  accession  to  the 
throne,  but  he  must  nevertheless  be  admitted  to  have  been  a  man 


.588  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE 

of  good  morals  and  unobjectionable  deportment,  or  he  could 
never  have  gained  the  sanction  of  Lafayette  and  the  people  — 
especially  when  we  recollect  the  odium  and  execration  which. 
rest  upon  the  name  of  his  father.  Of  course,  Louis  Philippe  is 
popular  with  his  party,  and  unpopular  with  both  the  ultra-mon- 
archists and  republicans,  by  both  of  which  parties  he  is  opposed. 
He  is  universally  admitted  to  be  a  man  possessed  of  both  fine 
talents  and  extensive  learning,  perfectly  moral,  and  very  affable. 
He  is  reproached  by  the  Catholics  for  want  of  religious  princi- 
ples. All  admit  him  to  be  a  careful  manager  of  his  estates  and 
revenues,  and  the  Carlists  call  him  mean  and  penurious.  He 
has,  greatly  to  his  credit,  done  much  to  gradually  reform  the 
grossest  outrages  against  decency  and  public  morals  in  his  man- 
agement of  the  affairs  of  the  Palais  Royale.  The  queen,  as  I 
learn,  is  above  suspicion  and  reproach,  and  is  universally  respect- 
ed and  beloved.  The  sons  are  also  popular;  they  attend  the  col- 
leges and  schools,  and  subject  themselves  to  competition  with  the 
plebeians  —  a  competition  in  which,  to  their  great  credit,  it  is 
said  by  their  force  of  talent  and  application  they  ably  sustain 
themselves.  The  queen  is  a  zealous  Catholic,  and  thus  secures 
the  favor  of  the  church,  which  is  disregarded  by  the  king. 


LETTEE   XIII.* 

LAFAYETTE    IN    PAKIS. 


Paris,  September  12,  1838. 

My  Deak  F :  Soon  after  we  arrived  at  Paris,  we  sent  our 

letters  with  our  cards  to  the  house  occupied  by  General  Lafayette 
{when  in  the  city),  No.  6  Rue  cPAvijou  St.  Honore,  in  the  fau- 
bourg St.  Honore.  A  few  days  afterward,  we  received  a  letter 
from  him,  dated  La  Grange,  and  post-marked  Rosoit,  in  which 
lie  stated  that  he  "hastened  to  welcome  us  on  our  arrival  in 
France,"  and  added  that  he  "  hoped  with  his  family  to  have  the 
pleasure  soon  of  receiving  us  at  La  Grange ;"  that  in  the  mean- 
time he  was  "to  be  in  Paris  on  the  Wednesday  following,  for 

*  This  and  the  succeeding  letter  have  never  before  been  published. — Ed. 


PARIS— LAFAYETTE.  589 

one  day  only,  and  would  receive  us  that  day  at  his  own  house, 
or  call  on  us,  as  should  suit  our  convenience." 

On  the  day  appointed  we  repaired  to  his  house  at  the  earliest 
hour  for  receiving  calls,  so  as  to  anticipate  his  coming  to  our  hoteL 
We  were  shown  by  a  servant  into  an  ante-chamber,  neatly  but 
plainly  furnished,  and  were  informed  that  the  general  would  soon 
be  ready  to  see  us.  We  waited  nearly  half  an  hour,  not  without 
some  misgivings  that  we  had  called  at  too  early  an  hour.  A 
message  came  to  us  that  the  general  was  engaged,  but  would 
soon  be  with  us.  We  amused  ourselves  with  surveying  the  apart- 
ment. The  floor,  like  most  others  in  Paris,  was  of  oak,  and  with- 
out a  carpet.  The  furniture  was  of  the  simplest  fashion,  but  of 
rich  material,  and,  though  old,  was  in  good  preservation.  Sim- 
pie  muslin  curtains  were  suspended  before  the  windows.  There 
were  no  ornaments,  except  on  one  side  of  the  room  a  bust  of 
Washington,  and  on  the  other  a  bust  of  Lafayette. 

At  length  a  venerable  gentleman  passed  through  the  ante- 
chamber, bowing  to  us  as  he  made  his  exit,  and  immediately  after 
him  the  patriarch  appeared.  He  gave  both  his  hands  to  us,  ex- 
pressed himself  happy  to  see  us,  and  apologized  for  having  de- 
tained us  so  long,  stating  that  the  gentleman  who  had  just  left 
him  was  a  Polish  general  officer,  who  desired  to  converse  with 
him  (as  he  always  does  when  he  came  to  town)  upon  the  affairs 
of  his  unhappy  country.  Thus  saying,  he  conducted  us  through 
a  parlor  to  his  bedchamber,  which  was  furnished  with  a  tabler 
books,  and  papers ;  and,  again  pressing  our  hands,  he  said,  "  I 
am  happy  to  see  you  again."  It  is  barely  possible  he  may  have 
remembered  one  or  the  other  of  us  as  among  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  who  tendered  him  their  welcome  on  his  last  visit  to 
our  country.  But  it  is  much  more  probable  that  he  assumed,  of 
course,  that  we  were  among  the  number ;  as  he  can  seldom  mis- 
take in  making  the  same  supposition  concerning  all  Americans 
who  visit  Paris.  Everything  in  the  apartment  was  in  keeping 
with  the  character  of  its  venerable  occupant.  The  only  decora- 
tions which  graced  it  were  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
one  or  two  patriot  busts.  The  general  looked  much  better  than 
when  I  saw  him  in  America.  His  complexion  was  fair,  and  his. 
countenance  less  heavy  and  dull  than  our  pictures  represent  him. 
He  was  dressed  in  a  black  frock-coat,  and  with  a  white  vest.  He 
seemed  to  walk  with  difficulty,  but  in  every  other  respect  ap- 


590  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

peared  younger  and  in  greener  health  than  when  we  knew  him. 
After  the  ordinary  inquiries  concerning  our  voyage,  the  route 
we  had  travelled,  and  the  state  of  our  health  —  "  And  how,"  said 
he,  "did  you  leave  all  my  friends?"  I  told  him  the  question 
was  too  broad ;  we  could  answer,  however,  as  to  the  continued 
health  and  usefulness  of  those  by  whom  we  had  been  favored 
with  letters  to  him.  He  then  spoke  of  his  friends  among  the 
distinguished  public  men  at  Washington,  and  we  gave  him  all 
the  information  we  possessed  concerning  them.  Leaving  the 
subject,,  he  again  assured  us  that  his  family  would  enjoy  the 
greatest  happiness  in  seeing  us  at  La  Grange.  In  truth,  we  had 
thought  that  the  general  must  be  oppressed  with  the  numerous 
visits  of  Americans,  and  were  therefore  sincere  in  the  declaration 
that  we  had  not  intended  to  go  to  La  Grange,  or  tax  his  polite- 
ness further  than  the  present  call.  He  declared  that  he  had  a 
right  and  his  family  had  a  right  to  a  visit  at  least  from  every 
American  who  arrived  in  Paris.  We  "must  come  to  La  Grange 
— he  would  not  have  a  doubt  left  upon  it.  We  might  make  our 
stay  there  as  short  as  should  be  required  by  our  convenience,  but 
we  must  come." 

The  general  then  adverted  to  the  recent  convulsion  in  South 
Carolina,  and  congratulated  us  that  all  was  now  tranquil  in  the 
United  States.  He  spoke  very  briefly  on  the  subject,  and  with- 
out reference  to  any  of  the  prominent  individuals  who  had  risen 
in  the  storm.  He  said  the  suspense  under  which  the  friends  of 
republicanism  in  Europe  remained  during  the  excitement  was 
dreadful,  and  his  own  position  exceedingly  embarrassing.  The 
tories  in  every  country  in  Europe  exulted  in  the  anticipated  over- 
throw of  the  government  upon  the  stability  of  which  the  liberals 
had  risked  their  all. 

Although  General  Lafayette  was  unreserved  in  his  expressions 
on  this  great  question,  I  could  not  but  discover  and  admire  the 
prudence  he  exhibited  in  relation  to  individuals  among  us,  not 
only  on  this  occasion,  but  whenever  American  politics  became 
the  subject  of  conversation.  He  spoke  in  terms  of  the  highest 
friendship  for  many  living  statesmen  of  different  political  parties, 
and  in  terms  of  veneration  and  respect  for  the  memory  of  many 
departed  patriots,  without  distinction  of  party ;  but  of  the  living 
and  the  dead,  there  was  only  one  individual  concerning  whom 
one  unfavorable  expression  escaped  him,  that  person  has  long 


PARIS— LAFAYETTE.  591 

since  been  without  the  field  of  public  controversy,  and  what  the 
general  said  of  him  was  more  in  sorrow  than  in  anger.  It  is  not, 
indeed,  until  one  visits  Lafayette  at  home  that  he  realizes  the 
truly  paternal  character  of  his  feelings  toward  America.  His 
solicitude  is  for  the  whole  nation,  and  in  the  exercise  of  that 
feeling  he  overlooks  the  bickerings  and  controversies  which 
disturb  our  domestic  peace.  While  listening  to  him  I  involun- 
tarily yielded  to  the  belief,  that  if  he  were  among  us,  his  exam- 
ple and  his  teachings  would  produce  among  us  greater  mutual 
forbearance,  and  greater  purity  of  individual  purpose.  But  in 
this  I  doubtless  erred.  It  is  not  in  the  nature  of  political  con- 
troversies to  yield  to  such  high  and  redeeming  influences,  and 
even  Lafayette  himself,  if  among  us,  would  retain  his  influence 
only  as  that  influence  was  thrown  into  the  scale  of  popular  opin- 
ion on  one  side  or  the  other.  Have  we  not  now,  in  a  political 
sense,  "Moses  and  the  prophets?  If  we  will  not  hear  them 
neither  would  we  hear  though  one  were  sent  from  the  dead." 

The  more  immediate  and  engrossing  theme  of  French  politics 
next  became  the  subject  of  conversation,  and,  I  confess,  it  was 
with  feelings  strangely  compounded  of  surprise  and  gratification, 
that  I  heard  the  patriot  general  describe  the  events  of  the 
Revolution  of  three  days,  with  as  much  simplicity  as  if  the  reci- 
tal concerned  only  a  village  excitement.  I  was  glad  to  hear  the 
general  on  this  subject.  It  relieved  my  own  mind  of  the  uncom- 
fortable belief  I  had  indulged,  that  he  had  been  governed  by 
caprice  in  his  abandonment  of  Louis  Philippe,  and,  if  possible, 
exalted  him  still  higher  in  my  respect  and  admiration ;  as  I  am 
sure  it  would  in  the  admiration  and  esteem  of  our  countrymen, 
could  I  communicate  the  recital  to  them.  He  said,  Louis 
Philippe  had  abandoned  the  principles  the  profession  of  which 
brought  him  to  the  throne,  and  he  therefore  abandoned  him.  "  It 
has  been  said,"  continued  the  general,  "  that  I  made  him  king. 
That  is  not  true.  It  is  true,  however,  that  I  consented  he  should 
be  king,  and  without  my  consent  he  could  not  have  been  king. 
It  was  not  without  doubts  that  I  acted  thus  far  in  the  matter. 
But  what  was  to  be  done?  The  people  had  achieved  a  revolu- 
tion. The  chamber  of  deputies  contained  a  large  majority  of 
whigs,  there  were  many  republicans  among  them.  But  such  a 
horror  in  regard  to  republicanism  existed  in  France  on  account 
of  the  terrible  scenes  of  the  republic  of  1793,  that  nobody  was 


592  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

willing  to  renew  the  experiment  yet.  The  great  desire  of  all 
was  to  have  the  revolution  terminated,  because,  although  the 
people  had  behaved  with  the  greatest  moderation  and  prudence 
thus  far,  the  deputies  were  apprehensive  that,  unless  the  govern- 
ment was  immediately  established  they  would  become  turbu- 
lent, anarchy  would  ensue,  and  the  bloody  scenes  of  '93  be 
re-enacted.  What  was  to  be  done  ?"  continued  Lafayette.  "  The 
only  one  of  the  Bonaparte  family  whom  it  was  practicable  to  call 
to  the  throne,  was  the  young  duke  of  Reichstadt ;  and  he  was  a 
minor,  an  invalid,  in  the  hands  of  the  Austrian^,  and  had  been 
educated  by  them ;  and,  it  was  natural  to  believe,  was  imbued 
with  the  prepossessions,  and  prejudices,  and  principles  of  tha't 
court.  Besides,  the  name  of  Bonaparte  was  associated  with  the 
recollections  of  a  despotism.  The  throne  of  a  successor  must  be 
rendered  safe  by  a  return,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  same  prin- 
ciples, and  thus  there  were  insuperable  objections  to  a  restoration 
of  the  Napoleon  dynasty.  We  could  not  safely  proclaim  a 
republic ;  we  had  no  republican  army  to  rely  upon,  nor  could  such 
a  government,  at  this  time,  secure  the  confidence  of  the  people, 
and  we  knew  well  that,  no  sooner  should  it  be  established,  than 
we  should  have  all  Europe  combined  against  us.  The  attention 
of  all  the  actors  in  the  revolution,"  said  Lafayette,  "  was  pre- 
occupied by  Louis  Philippe,  with  whom  I  was  little  acquainted. 
I  knew  that  in  his  youth  he  had  been  a  republican ;  he  had 
talents  and  information  ;  he  was  a  little  too  fond  of  money,  but 
had  hitherto  behaved,  as  a  man,  very  well,  especially  in  America. 
The  general  sentiment  indicated  Louis  Philippe,  but  it  was 
agreed  that,  before  he  should  be  created  king,  he  should  be 
seen,  and  his  sentiments  and  principles  should  be  ascertained, 
and  he  should  be  bound  to  a  constitutional  monarchy,  which 
would  be  so  framed  as  to  be  the  first  great  advance  to  a  republic. 
I  left  the  people  at  the  Hotel  de  Ville,  and  visited  Louis  Philippe. 
The  first  thing  he  said  to  me  was,  '  General  Lafayette  !  what  is  to 
be  done  V  I  told  him  he  was  well  aware  that  I  was  a  republican, 
that  to  me  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  seemed  the  best 
government  that  had  ever  been  devised  by  man.  He  answered 
that  his  sentiments  precisely  accorded  with  mine,  and  no  man 
could  be  in  America,  as  he  had  been,  two  years  and  not  be  con- 
vinced that  the  American  government  was  the  best  that  could  be 
framed;  'but,'  said  he,  'what  shall  be  done?    You  know,'  con- 


LAFAYETTE— LOUIS  PHILIPPE.  593 

tinued  Louis  Philippe,  '  the  prejudices  and  alarms  concerning  a 
republic  entertained  by  the  people.  We  can  not  depend  upon 
the  army ;  half  the  troops  are  Carlists,  and  we  shall  have  all 
Europe  down  upon  us  as  soon  as  we  proclaim  a  republic'  I 
answered,"  said  Lafayette,  "that  I  was  aware  of  all  this,  and 
therefore  thought,  as  it  was  most  desirable  to  give  quiet  to  France, 
and  to  con su mate  the  revolution,  it  was  best  to  establish,  at 
present,  a  monarchy,  but  as  much  a  limited  monarchy  as  possible, 
and  to  surround  it  with  republican  institutions,  which  would 
prepare  the  way  by  educating  the  people,  for  establishing,  as 
soon  as  might  be  prudent,  a  republic.  Louis  Philippe  declared 
these  were  the  very  thoughts  he  had  entertained,  and  he  full}' 
accorded  in  them.  I  returned,"  added  Lafayette,  "  to  the  Hotel 
de  Ville,  and  announced  to  the  people  that  the  sentiments  of  the 
duke  of  Orleans  accorded  with  our  own,  and  he  was  then,  as  you 
know,  made  king.  We  had  him  swear  to  a  charter  containing 
two  fundamental  principles,  one  the  superiority  of  the  people, 
and  the  responsibility  of  the  government  to  them ;  and  the  other 
universal  suffrage.  And  he  pledged  himself  that  laws  should 
be  passed,  to  commence  immediately  the  work  of  general  educa- 
tion. I  was  made  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom.  I  did  not 
wish  to  accept  the  office,  but  it  seemed  necessary  to  satisfy  the 
people,  and  attach  them  to  the  government ;  besides,  if  I  should 
not  accept  it,  it  would  furnish  occasion  to  say,  that  I  wanted  to 
be  king  myself.  I  therefore  accepted  it,  and,  for  a  short  time, 
all  went  on  well.  Louis  Philippe  promised  to  support  Italy 
and  the  liberal  cause  throughout  Europe.  Excited  by  our 
example  and  success,"  said  Lafayette,  "the  republican  cause 
commenced  in  Poland,  Belgium,  and  Italy.  It  met  the  resistance 
we  had  anticipated,  and  looked  to  us  for  support.  Louis  Phil- 
ippe had  not  courage  to  sustain  the  republicans  as  he  had  prom- 
ised :  I  remonstrated,  he  insisted,  and  finally  abandoned  them  to 
their  fate.  Then  he  became  very  desirous  I  should  resign. 
Alarms  were  now  entertained  or  affected,  lest  the  office  I  held 
might,  in  the  hands  of  my  successor,  be  too  powerful ;  but  they 
were  unwilling  to  deprive  me  of  it.  I  was  more  desirous  to 
resign  it  than  they  that  I  should.  I  felt  that  I  could  no  longer 
hold  it  in  justice  to  myself  and  my  principles.  Louis  Philippe 
had  already  begun  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a  new  Bourbon 
dynasty  which  should  be  perpetual,  instead  of  so  wielding  the 
Yol.  III.— 38 


59i  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

government  as  to  introduce  a  republic  as  he  had  promised  me. 
In  this  I  would  have  no  part.  I  was  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  —  a  republican.  I  knew  that  my  name  was  associated 
with  the  cause  of  liberty  and  republicanism,  wherever  that  cause 
was  cherished.  I  never  intended  to  seek  or  hold  office  merely 
for  the  sake  of  office,  under  any  government,  but  had  accepted 
my  post  merely  to  advance  the  general  cause.  I  could  not, 
therefore,  retain  it  without  giving  the  sanction  of  my  name,  what- 
ever might  be  its  worth,  to  the  principles  of  the  new  dynasty ; 
and  that  would  have  been  to  violate  the  great  general  principles 
of  government  which  I  entertained,  and  to  discourage  the  friends 
of  republican  government  throughout  Europe.  I  therefore  re- 
signed. Louis  Philippe  has  since  said  that  he  made  no  engage- 
ment with  me,  preparatory  to  his  being  created  king,  concerning 
the  principles  of  his  government.  As  soon  as  I  learned  this 
from  a  source  sufficiently  authentic  to  rely  upon,  I  sent  word 
to  him  that  I  should  not  any  longer  go  to  the  Tuilleries,  and 
thus  the  breach  was  completed." 

After  some  reminiscences  of  his  tour  in  the  United  States,  and 
the  renewal  of  his  pressing  invitation  to  visit  La  Grange,  the 
general  permitted  us  to  take  leave.  I  have  thus,  my  dear  friend, 
given  you  the  details  of  our  first  and  very  interesting  interview, 
I  am  sure  that  it  is  substantially  correct,  as  I  transcribe  it  from 
notes  made  immediately  after  my  return  to  our  lodgings.  Every 
word  sank  deep  in  my  memory,  for  I  listened  to  the  venerable 
man's  narrative  with  an  interest  hardly  less  intense  than  that  with 
which  mortal  ears  listen  to  the  communication  of  the  messenger 
of  Heaven.  I  have  but  one  reflection  to  add.  Does  not  this 
simple  relation  show  that  Lafayette  has  acted,  throughout  the 
late  revolution  in  France,  in  the  closest  keeping  with  his  former 
principles?  Regarding  as  his  highest  character  that  of  being  an 
American  citizen,  the  scholar  and  associate  of  Washington,  and 
the  representative  of  republicanism  in  Europe,  he  guarded  his 
conduct  with  reference  to  the  obligations  resting  upon  him  in 
that  character,  and  with  a  view,  not  to  personal  advantage,  nor 
even  to  the  temporary  security  of  the  French  nation,  but  to  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  free  principles  and  the  establishment  of 
republican  governments.  None  can  censure  him  for  his  aban- 
donment of  Louis  Philippe,  unless  he  be  prepared  to  adopt 
the  principle  of  Louis  Philippe's  government,  that  republican 


LAFAYETTE  AT  LA  GRANGE.  595 

governments  can  never  be  established  in  Europe  —  a  principle 
at  war  with  Lafayette's  principles  through  his  whole  life,  and 
which  he  could  not  adopt  without  inconsistency  so  gross  as  to 
forfeit  his  entire  claim  to  the  homage  of  mankind — a  principle 
which  would  deprive  him  of  all  the  respect  and  affection  of  the 
American  people. 


LETTER   XIY. 

LAFAYETTE   AT   LA   GRANGE. 


La  Grange,  September  11,  1833. 

I  know  you  will  be  gratified  by  the  date  of  this  letter.  How 
rich  is  the  enjoyment  of  such  a  visit  as  this  to  the  venerable 
patriarch  and  his  family.  The  reproach  of  tourists  is  that  they 
are  vain  and  coxcombical.  I  am  proud  of  this  achievement,  and 
I  will  be  vain  of  it  as  long  as  I  live,  and  I  will  inflict  not  only 
long  letters  upon  you  about  La  Grange,  but  I  will  dwell  upon  it 
when  I  return  and  ever  afterward. 

Yesterday  morning,  "in  pursuance  of  previous  arrangement," 
we  left  Paris  in  the  coupe  of  a  diligence  at  eight  o'clock.  We 
passed  Yincennes,  its  prisons  and  its  forests,  and  followed  some 
distance  the  route  of  the  Seine.  About  six  miles  of  our  journey 
were  completed,  when  we  found  it  necessary  to  descend  and  walk 
up  the  long  hill,  so  as  to  relieve  the  horses.  We  were  richly 
repaid  for  our  muddy  walk  up  the  hill,  by  a  fine  view  of  the 
windings  of  the  Seine  for  six  miles,  ending  with  the  towers  of 
Notre  Dame  and  the  Pantheon.  The  sun  deigned  to  smile  upon 
us,  and  we  found  the  appearance  of  the  country  delightful  after 
our  long  residence  in  Paris.  We  passed  through  several  mean 
villages,  among  which  were  La  Queene,  which  exhibits  the 
remains  of  a  chateau. 

A  solitary  tower  broken  off  at  the  top,  but  still  seventy  feet 
high,  is  all  that  remains.  The  villagers  raise  fruit  and  vege- 
tables in  what  were  the  court-yard  and  drawing-room.  A 
tattered  tri-colored  flag  waves  from  the  highest  turret,  and  has 
probably  weathered  all  the  storms  since  the  revolution  of  1830. 
Tournau  and  Fontenay,  two  market-towns,  lay  on  our  road.  At 
two  o'clock  we  arrived  at  Kosoit,  a  village  of  about  two  thousand 


596  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

inhabitants,  and  distant  thirty  miles  from  Paris.  It  is  meanly- 
built,  like  most  of  the  French  provincial  towns.  The  annual 
fete  had  collected  several  thousand  people  in  the  streets.  The 
auberge  was  crowded  with  peasantry  devouring  the  simple  meal 
of  brown-bread  with  abundance  of  wine.  Crowds  of  men,  women, 
and  children,  thronged  the  streets.  In  this  confusion  we  were 
met  by  a  servant  of  General  Lafayette's,  who  waited  with  a  plain, 
neat  coach,  to  carry  us  to  La  Grange.  We  entered  the  domain 
as  soon  as  we  left  the  village,  and  a  ride  of  something  more  than 
half  a  mile  brought  us  to  a  grove  so  rich  and  dense  as  to  exclude 
the  chateau  from  view.  A  winding  of  the  road  now  discovered 
to  us  a  venerable  castle,  built  of  stone,  on  the  three  sides  of  a 
square  with  an  open  court  in  the  centre.  The  chateau  is  three 
stories  in  height,  and  at  each  angle  is  flanked  by  a  circular  tower. 
It  is  surrounded  by  a  moat  or  canal  filled  with  water  and  trav- 
ersed by  bridges.  An  ivy  clusters  upon  its  front  wall  which  was 
planted  by  Charles  James  Fox.  The  coach  stopped  in  the  paved 
court  at  the  entrance  of  the  chateau.  We  entered  a  large  hall 
containing  the  grand  staircase  in  the  centre.  At  the  foot  of  the 
stairs  were  two  small  brass  cannon,  mounted  and  facing  each 
entrance.  The  cannon  bore  inscriptions,  stating  that  they  were 
captured  from  the  royal  troops  by  the  people  of  Paris,  in  the 
revolution  of  the  three  days,  and  presented  to  General  Lafayette. 
Over  them  and  in  front  of  the  ascent  of  the  stairs  is  a  triumphal 
ornament,  composed  of  flags  taken  from  the  royal  troops  in  the 
same  revolution.  At  the  top  of  the  staircase  is  an  ornament  not 
less  appropriate  and  characteristic :  it  is  formed  of  the  graceful 
foldings  of  our  own  standard  with  its  stars  and  stripes.  We 
were  received  by  Madame  Maubourg,  the  general's  oldest  daugh- 
ter, and  by  two  of  his  grandsons.  This  lady  spoke  to  us  in  Eng- 
lish, but,  being  unaccustomed  to  the  language  in  ordinary  conver- 
sation, she  found  it  so  difficult  that  she  gave  me  to  understand  we 
must  use  my  bad  French  instead  of  her  difficult  English.  She  is 
a  middle-aged  woman,  plainly  dressed,  exceedingly  well  informed, 
vivacious,  and  agreeable.  In  half  an  hour  the  general  appeared, 
well,  cheerful,  and  animated,  and  we  passed  an  hour  in  conversa- 
tion upon  French  and  English  politics.  The  apartment  which  is 
the  common  parlor  is  still  more  plainly  furnished  than  the  rooms 
in  the  general's  house  in  town.  The  floor  is  of  polished  oak. 
The  room  contains  a  bust  of  Washington  at  the  age  of  fifty-eight, 


LAFAYETTE  AT  LA  GRANGE.  597 

and  portraits  of  all  the  presidents  of  the  United  States  except 
the  present  incumbent.  The  general  informed  us  that  one  of  the 
latter  had  been  forwarded  by  his  friends  in  America,  but  had 
been  lost  on  the  way :  he  had  written  for  another,  but  it  was  not 
yet  received.  In  the  course  of  the  morning  (afternoon)  the  sev- 
eral members  of  the  family  appeared  and  warmly  welcomed  us  to 
La  Grange.  The  conversation  was  redundant  in  incidents  of  the 
Revolution.  The  general  alluded  to  the  difficulty  he  encoun- 
tered in  learning  the  English  language  so  as  to  pronounce  it  well, 
saying  that,  soon  after  he  joined  the  American  army,  he  was 
requested  to  name  the  watchword  for  the  day.  He  gave  "  Paris." 
He  was  himself  challenged  by  an  American  sentinel  and  pro- 
nounced a  spy,  because  he  pronounced  the  pass-word  Pa-re.  He 
alluded  to  Colonel  Burr's  visit  to  France :  said  he  did  not  visit 
the  colonel  at  Paris;  he  could  not — he  had  recently  killed  one 
of  his  friends  (Hamilton),  and  conspired  against  another  (Jeffer- 
son). I  mention  this  as  an  evidence  of  the  Catholicism  of  the 
general's  attachment  to  America,  which  embraced  these  two 
rival  politicians  and  widely  opposed  statesmen,  without  marking 
by  a  single  expression  his  consciousness  of  their  mutual  opposi- 
tion to  each  other.  After  sitting  two  hours,  the  general  called  a 
domestic  and  proceeded  to  show  us  to  our  rooms.  The  one  pre- 
pared for  S was  in  the  first  story,  comfortably  warmed  in 

consideration  of  his  ill  health.  He  conducted  me  through  long, 
winding  corridors  with  brick  pavement,  to  the  tower  in  the  angle 
of  the  chateau  in  the  third  story,  saying :  "  You  see,  sir,  that 
this  is  a  very  old  house."  But,  although  it  was  old,  it  was,  in 
all  that  concerned  the  comfort  of  guests,  perfectly  an  fait.  "  We 
dine,"  said  the  general,  "  at  half-past  six.  Here  is  paper  and 
materials  for  writing.  My  library  is  on  this  floor :  if  you  want 
anything,  you  will  ring  for  a  servant."  I  wanted  no  books :  I 
was  reading  the  choicest  history  and  character  from  the  lips  of 
Lafayette  himself,  and  husbanded  my  time  so  as  to  lose  nothing 
of  the  precious  treasure.  He  spoke  again  in  our  interview  this 
afternoon,  and  very  freely,  of  Louis  Philippe ;  said  that  he  dis- 
tinctly engaged  to  him  that  the  new  monarchy  should  be  sur- 
rounded by  republican  institutions,  to  be  of  temporary  duration, 
and  to  prepare  the  way  for  a  republic ;  but  he  had  chosen  to 
build  up  a  dynasty  and  had  made  a  bad  choice.  "  Had  he  ful- 
filled his  engagements,"  said  Lafayette,  "he  might  have  been 


598  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

king  twenty-five  years;  but,  to  secure  the  support  promised  him 
by  the  other  powers  of  Europe,  he  preferred  building  up  his  own 
dynasty,  to  make  it  perpetual.  In  the  former  case,  the  great 
revolution  of  France  would  have  ended  in  four  acts ;  now  it 
would  be  five.  The  people  would  be  educated  and  prepared  for  a 
republic  in  twenty  years.  When  that  time  should  come,  France 
would  not  be  content  to  be  governed  by  kings.  Louis  Philippe 
and  his  family  were  sure  to  come  down  some  time,  and  that  not 
distant ;  he  (Lafayette)  did  not  think  they  had  twenty  years  to 
reign. 

One  can  not  be  an  hour  at  La  Grange  without  discovering  that 
Lafayette  and  his  family  are  all  American  in  their  attachments 
and  feelings.  The  conversation  is  animated  beyond  measure, 
when  it  turns  upon  American  affairs,  reminiscences,  anticipations, 
and  hopes.  The  drawing-room  is  adorned  with  pictures  of  the 
American  presidents  ;  the  grand  staircase  with  the  American  flag, 
the  antechamber  with  busts  of  Washington,  and  Franklin,  and 
American  maps ;  the  library  contains  a  choice  collection  of 
American  books,  and  the  sleeping-rooms  have  no  pictures  but 
those  of  the  American  battle-fields,  naval  victories,  landscapes, 
Mount  Yernon,  Hancock's  house,  Quincy,  &c.  Would  there 
were  among  American  statesmen  such  lofty  and  exclusive  devo- 
tion to  the  republic.  Oh,  for  the  return  of  the  days  when  such 
patriotism  that  knows  no  party  could  return  to  our  public  coun- 
cils and  our  firesides !  At  the  dinner-hour  we  met  the  entire 
family,  consisting  of  twenty-two  persons.  The  dining-room  was 
a  large  and  plain  apartment  on  the  ground  floor.  The  general 
occupied  the  centre,  on  his  right  Madame  Maubourg  at  the  upper 
end  of  the  table,  and  Madame  Perier  at  the  other  end  of  the  table. 
The  dinner  was  served  with  a  degree  of  republican  simplicity 
which  would  shame  our  dinners  in  our  cities.  The  viands  were 
good,  and  the  wine  abundant,  all,  with  the  exception  of  a  bottle 
of  Champagne  and  a  bottle  of  Madeira,  the  produce  of  La  Grange. 
The  general  told  many  anecdotes  of  his  tour  in  the  United  States, 
and  expatiated  upon  the  different  parts  of  the  Union.  That  spot 
of  all  others  which  he  most  admired  was  Goat  island,  at  Niagara 
Falls.  He  described  its  beauties  to  his  family,  and  said  that  he 
never  thought  of  it  without  feeling  a  desire  to  purchase  it,  and 
make  it  his  residence.  Madame  Maubourg,  by  whose  side  I  had 
the  honor  to  be  seated,  interested  me  exceedingly.     She  described 


LAFAYETTE  AT  LA  GRANGE.  599 

to  me  the  castle  of  Olmutz,  and  her  stay  there,  with  her  mother 
and  sister,  during  the  imprisonment  of  her  father ;  and  I  felt  that 
I  had  not  now  a  wish  ungratiiied,  since  I  had  seen  the  hero  and 
the  survivors  of  the  three  heroines  of  that  dungeon.  "  I  will 
subscribe,"  said  Lafayette,  to  the  agent  of  the  Prussian  govern- 
ment, who  proposed  to  him  a  renunciation  of  his  republican 
principles  as  a  condition  for  his  release,  "I  will  subscribe  no 
declaration  inconsistent  with  my  duties  as  an  American  citizen." 
Such  was  his  language  forty  years  ago,  when  the  American 
republic  was  in  its  infancy.  "  I  will  not  support,"  said  he  in 
1830,  "  a  government  which  is  inconsistent  with  my  principles  as 
an  American  citizen."  Was  ever  human  character,  through  all 
vicissitudes,  so  consistent  as  that  of  Lafayette.  Madame  Mau- 
bourg  told  me,  that  the  most  sincere  and  unmingled  pleasure  she 
had  ever  enjoyed,  was  in  reading  the  American  newspapers, 
which  recorded  her  father's  arrival  and  progress  through  the 
United  States.  It  was  the  triumph,  the  reward,  the  crown  of  a 
life  of  sacrifices,  perils,  and  sufferings  in  the  cause  of  human  free- 
dom. Now  I  find  it  impossible  to  write  these  things  without 
my  letter  running  into  a  kind  of  grandiloquence.  But  1  wish 
you  to  understand,  that  in  all  their  conversation  there  is  not  the 
slightest  indication  of  a  desire  to  magnify  the  importance  of  any- 
thing relating  to  themselves.  The  general's  tour  was  spoken  of 
with  no  more  apparent  self-complacency,  than  if  it  had  been  a 
ride  in  his  little  glass-coach  from  La  Grange  to  Paris,  and  the  revo- 
lution of  the  three  days  was  treated  with  no  more  effort  at  effect 
than  if  it  had  been  an  election  of  a  congressman  in  our  own 
country.  The  party  (rather  the  family)  remained  at  the  table 
about  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  then  retired  to  the  drawing-room, 
where  the  evening  was  spent  in  free  and  unrestrained  conversa- 
tion. The  ladies,  as  if  they  were  the  females  of  a  farmer's  family, 
had  their  sewing  and  knitting-work ;  the  elder  being  employed 
principally  in  the  homely  operation  of  mending,  with  conversation, 
upon  books,  and  music,  and  the  newspapers,  which  were  by  turns 
resorted  to.  If  any  American  of  respectable  education  and  asso- 
ciations fears  to  trespass  upon  Lafayette's  goodness  by  accepting 
his  hospitality,  let  him,  upon  my  assurance,  dismiss  all  his  fears. 
He  will  find,  when  he  arrives  at  La  Grange,  that  his  visit  causes 
neither  trouble  nor  expense.  The  habits  of  the  family  are  fixed, 
the  household  is  adapted  to  them.     He  will  find  no  neglect  of 


600  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

any  duty,  and  no  extra  provision  of  cheer  on  his  account ;  the 
addition  of  another  pair  of  sheets  to  the  wash-woman,  another 
cover  on  the  table,  is  all  that  marks  the  visit  of  a  stranger,  who, 
while  there,  becomes  one  of  the  family,  and  may  amuse  himself 
as  he  will,  and  depart  when  he  will.  But  it  is  the  duty  of  Ameri- 
cans to  visit  La  Grange.  The  approbation  of  Americans  is  prima- 
facie  evidence,  in  France,  that  the  man  or  measure  upon  which 
it  is  bestowed  is  right.  Lafayette  has  sacrificed  power  greater 
than  that  of  the  throne,  and  gone  into  a  minority  of  about  thirty- 
nine  in  the  chamber  of  delegates,  to  preserve  his  principles  of 
American  republicanism.  While  it  can  not  be  perceived  that 
the  tribute  is  so  acknowledged  by  Lafayette,  any  one  who  is 
familiar  with  the  French  journals,  will  see  that  every  carriage 
which  rolls  up  to  La  Grange  excites  the  enthusiasm  of  the  people, 
and  the  discontent  of  the  juste  milieu.  At  precisely  ten  o'clock 
each  of  the  younger  members  of  the  party  affectionately  saluted 
the  general,  who  retired  after  taking  leave  of  us  for  the  night,  and 
saying  to  us  that  we  should  take  breakfast  at  ten  o'clock.  When  I 
retired  to  my  room  I  found  every  measure  had  been  taken  to 
render  my  sleep  tranquil.  The  curtains  were  dropped,  the  arm- 
chair and  slippers  placed  before  the  bed,  and  the  covering  turned 
down.  I  was  weary,  and  soon  sank  into  a  sleep  so  profound  that 
it  was  undisturbed  by  dreams. 

This  morning  the  hours  seemed  long  before  breakfast,  but  I 
supposed  one  must  perforce  remain  in  his  chamber.  Of  course, 
I  was  surprised  on  meeting  the  family  at  breakfast  by  the  inquiry 
if  I  had  been  out.  The  general  said  he  rose  every  morning  at 
six,  and  I  found  all  the  gentlemen,  and  some  of  the  ladies,  had 
been  abroad  over  the  plantation.  From  breakfast  the  ladies  re- 
tired to  the  shade-trees  on  the  lawn  in  front  of  the  chateau. 
Mademoiselle  Clementine,  the  daughter  of  George  Lafayette,  and 
an  adopted  daughter  of  the  general,  accompanied  us  in  a  long 
walk  over  the  grounds,  until  we  reached  a  small  artificial  lake 

containing  several  islands  planted  with  evergreens.     S and 

other  gentlemen  walked  over  the  farm,  while  one  of  the  young 
gentlemen  and  myself  applied  ourselves  to  the  oar,  and  rowed  the 
ladies  from  island  to  island.  On  our  return  to  the  chateau  we 
found  the  general  waiting  for  us.  He  first  exhibited  to  us  the 
beautiful  barge  which  had  been  presented  to  him  by  the  White- 
hall  boatmen,  after  they  had  won  the   boat  race   against  the 


LAFAYETTE  AT  LA   GRANGE.  601 

Thames  barge.  It  is  a  beautiful  and  graceful  craft  some  thirty- 
feet  long.  It  bears  an  inscription  reciting  the  wager  and  prize, 
and  the  names  of  the  oarsmen,  and  the  fact  that  it  was  presented 
to  Lafayette.  The  vanquished  Englishmen  offered  the  victors 
three  thousand  dollars  for  the  boat.  It  is  evidently  a  favorite 
among  the  multitude  of  American  presents  which  meet  your  eye 
everywhere.  He  has  built  a  house  over  it,  with  a  substantial 
tiled  rocf,  and  enclosed  by  network  of  iron,  which  excludes  it 
even  from  the  touch.  He  next  walked  with  us  through  every 
department  of  his  farming  affairs,  which  are  in  the  most  perfect 
order.  He  showed  an  entire  familiarity  with  the  whole,  and  is 
passionately  fond  of  the  pursuit.  His  horses,  cattle,  sheep,  and 
swine,  were  all  housed  and  taken  care  of  in  the  most  systematic 
manner.  I  could  not  but  mark  the  economy  which  prevailed. 
Even  the  acorns  were  all  hoarded  as  food  for  the  swine.  The 
farm  attached  to  the  chateau  contains  about  eight  hundred  acres. 
Besides  this  he  has  another  and  larger  farm  in  the  south  of 
France.  George  Washington  Lafayette  resides  there  during 
the  summer  and  takes  charge  of  it.  The  care  of  La  Grange  is 
intrusted  to  one  superintendent.  Regular  daily  accounts  aro 
kept,  and  these  are  carefully  posted  and  examined  every  Satur- 
day. A  portion  of  the  concern,  such  as  the  dairy,  &c,  and  the 
use  of  what  is  required  in  the  family  is  subject  to  the  supervision 
of  his  daughters.  I  was  struck  by  the  homage  paid  him  by  every 
domestic  and  laborer.  It  was  merited,  for  his  manner  toward 
them  was  parental.  It  was  three  o'clock  when  we  completed 
this  interesting  survey.  The  morning's  conversation  ended  with 
the  exhibition  of  his  museum  of  American  presents,  among  which 
I  remarked  he  was  particularly  pleased  with  the  vase  presented 
to  him  by  the  officers  of  the  Brandywine,  and  the  volume  pub- 
lished at  New  York  in  commemoration  of  his  visit.  But  I 
ought  not  to  forget  to  say  that  the  general  told  me  to  tell  the 
Whitehallers,  that  "  he  had  their  boat  safe,  and  it  would  last 
longer  than  he  would." 

At  dinner  he  descanted  to  his  family  in  glowing  terms  upon 
the  homage  universally  exhibited  in  America  to  the  soldiers  of 
the  Revolution,  as  witnessed  by  him  on  public  occasions.  We 
have  taken  leave  of  this  most  interesting  family,  and  to-morrow 
morning  at  six  o'clock  will  bid  farewell  for  ever  to  La  Grange, 
the  most  endearing  spot  in  France,  and  that  one  which  will  live 


602  LETTERS  FROM  EUROPE. 

the  greenest  in  all  our  recollections  of  this  hurried  but  delightful 
tour.  On  parting  with  the  general,  I  said  to  him  that  we  had  a 
long  time  anticipated  his  return  to  America  to  spend  the  evening 
of  his  days  there.  "  My  dear  sir,"  replied  he,  "I  should  be  very 
sorry  to  think  I  shall  never  again  see  America,  but  you  know 
how  it  is.  I  am  confined  to  France  for  two  or  three  years  to 
come,  by  my  office  as  a  member  of  the  house  of  deputies,  and 
what  may  happen  within  that  time  God  only  knows." 


SPEECHES 


IN 


THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE, 


SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATES 


CONTINENTAL   EIGHTS   AND    EELATIONS. 

JANUARY    26,    1853. 

Mr.  President  :  On  the  23d  day  February,  1848,  John  Quincy 
Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  who  had  completed  a  circle  of  public 
service  filling  fifty  years,  beginning  with  an  inferior  diplomatic 
function,  passing  through  the  chief  magistracy,  and  closing  with 
the  trust  of  a  representative  in  Congress,  departed  from  the  earth, 
certainly  respected  by  mankind,  and,  if  all  posthumous  honors 
are  not  insincere  and  false,  deplored  by  his  countrymen. 

On  a  fair  and  cloudless  day  in  the  month  of  June,  1850,  when  the 
loud  and  deep  voice  of  wailing  had  just  died  away  in  the  land,  the 
senator  from  Michigan,  of  New  England  born,  and  by  New  Eng- 
land reared,  the  leader  of  a  great  party,  not  only  here,  but  in  the 
whole  country,  rose  in  the  senate-chamber,  and  after  complaining 
that  a  member  of  the  family  of  that  great  statesman  of  the  east, 
instead  of  going  backward  with  a  garment  to  cover  his  infirmi- 
ties, had  revealed  them  by  publishing  portions  of  his  private 
diary,  himself  proceeded  to  read  the  obnoxious  extracts.  They 
showed  the  author's  strong  opinions,  that  by  the  federal  compact 
the  slaveholding  class  had  obtained,  and  they  had  exercised,  a 
controlling  influence  in  the  government  of  the  country. 

Placing  these  extracts  by  the  side  of  passages  taken  from  the 
Farewell  Address  of  Washington,  the  senator  from  Michigan 
said — "He  is  unworthy  the  name  of  an  American  who  does  not 
feel  at  his  heart's  core  the  difference  between  the  lofty  patriotism 
and  noble  sentiments  of  one  of  these  documents,  and ;  but  I 

*  Continued  from  vol.  i,  p.  388. 


606  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

will  not  say  what  the  occasion  would  justify.  I  will  only  say, 
and  that  is  enough,  the  other,  for  it  is  another."  —  "It  can  not, 
nor  will  it,  nor  should  it,  escape  the  censure  of  an  age  like  this." 
- — "  Better  that  it  had  been  entombed,  like  the  ancient  Egyptian 
records,  till  its  language  was  lost,  than  thus  to  have  been  exposed 
to  the  light  of  day." 

The  senator  then  proceeded  to  set  forth  by  contrast  his  own 
greater  justice  and  generosity  to  the  southern  states,  and  his  own 
higher  fidelity  to  the  Union.  This  was  in  the  senate  of  the 
United  States.  And  yet  no  one  rose  to  vindicate  the  memory 
of  John  Quincy  Adams,  or  to  express  an  emotion  even  of  sur- 
prise, or  of  regret,  that  it  had  been  thought  necessary  thus  to 
invade  the  sanctity  of  the  honored  grave  where  the  illustrious 
statesman  who  had  so  recently  passed  the  gates  of  death  was 
sleeping.  I  was  not  of  New  England,  by  residence,  education, 
or  descent,  and  there  were  reasons  enough  why  I  should  then  en- 
dure in  silence  a  pain  that  I  shared  with  so  many  of  my  country- 
men. But  I  determined,  that  when  the  tempest  of  popular  pas- 
sion that  was  then  raging  in  the  country  should  have  passed  by, 
I  would  claim  a  hearing  here — not  to  defend  or  vindicate  the 
sentiments  which  the  senator  from  Michigan  had  thus  severely 
censured,  for  Mr.  Adams  himself  had  referred  them,  together 
with  all  his  actions  and  opinions  concerning  slavery — not  to  this 
tribunal,  or  even  to  the  present  time,  but  to  that  after-age  which 
gathers  and  records  the  impartial  and  ultimate  judgment  of  man- 
kind— but  to  show  how  just  and  generous  he  had  been  in  his 
public  career  toward  all  the  members  of  this  confederacy,  and 
how  devoted  to  the  Union  of  the  states,  and  to  the  aggrandize- 
ment of  this  republic.  I  am  thankful  that  the  necessity  for  per- 
forming that  duty  has  passed  by,  and  that  the  statesman  of  Quincy 
has,  earlier  than  I  hoped  received  his  vindication,  and  has  received 
it,  too,  at  the  hands  of  him  from  whom  it  was  justly  due — the 
accuser  himself.  I  regret  only  this — that  the  vindication  was 
not  as  generously  as  it  was  effectually  made. 

There  are  two  propositions  arising  out  of  our  interests  in  and 
aronndthe  gulf  of  Mexico,  which  are  admitted  by  all  our  statggT 
men.  One  of  them  is,  that  the  safety  of  the  southern  states  re- 
quires a  watchful"  jealousy  of  the  presence  of  European  powers  in 
the_southern  portions  of  the  JNorth  American  continent;  and  the 
other  is.  that  the^tendency  of  oommpreiql  and  political  evenfa 


^T^T^r 


CONTINENTAL  RIGHTS  AND  RELATIONS.  607 

invites  the  United  States  to  assume  and  exercise  a  paramount  in- 
fluence in  the  affairs  of  the  nations  situated  in  this  hemisphere;  • 
that  JS;  to  become  and  remain  a  great  western  continental  power,  f 
balancing  itself  against  the  possible  combinations   of  Europe.! 
The   advance  of  the  country  toward   that  position  constitutes 
what,  in  the  language  of  many,  is  called  "  progress ;"  and  the 
position  itself  is  what,  by  the  same  class,  is  called  "  manifest  des- 
tiny."    It  is  held  by  all  who  approve  that  progress,  and  expect 
that  destiny,  to  be  necessary  to  prevent  the  re -colonization  of 
this  continent  by  the  European  states,  and  to  save  the  island  of 
Cuba  from  passing  out  of  the  possession  of  decayed  Spain,  into 
that  of  any  one  of  the  more  vigorous  maritime  powers  of  the  old 
world. 

In  December,  1823,  James  Monroe,  president  of  the  United 
States,  in  his  annual  message  to  Congress,  proclaimed  the  first 
of  these  two  policies  substantially  as  follows :  "  The  American 
continents,  by  the  free  and  independent  condition  which  they 
have  assumed  and  maintain,  are  henceforth  not  to  be  considered 
as  subjects  for  future  colonization  by  any  European  power;  and 
while  existing  rights  should  be  respected,  the  safety  and  interest 
of  the  United  States  require  them  to  announce  that  no  future 
colony  or  dominion  shall,  with  their  consent,  be  planted  or  estab- 
lished in  any  part  of  the  North  American  continent."  This  is 
what  is  called,  here  and  elsewhere,  the  Monroe  doctrine,  so  far 
as  it  involves  re-colonization. 

John  Quincy  Adams  and  John  C.  Calhoun  were  then  members, 
chief  members,  of  Monroe's  administration.  John  Quincy  Adams 
afterward  acknowledged  that  he  was  the  author  of  that  doctrine 
or  policy ;  and  John  C.  Calhoun,  on  the  15th  of  May,  1848,  in 
the  senate,  testified  on  that  point  fully.  A  senator  had  ^ela- 
ted an  alleged  conversation,  in  which  Mr.  Adams  was  represented 
as  having  said  that  three  memorable  propositions  contained  in 
'that  message,  of  which  what  I  have  quoted  was  one.  had  origi- 
nated with  himself.  Mr.  Calhoun  replied,  that  "  Mr.  Adams,  if 
he  had  so  stated,  must  have  referred  to  only  the  one  proposition 
concerning  re-colonization  [the  one  now  in  question],"  and  then 
added  as  follows :  "  As  respects  that,  his  (Mr.  Adams's)  memory 
does  not  differ  from  mine.  *  *  *  *  It  originated  entirely 
with  Mr.  Adams."— App.  Cong.  Globe,  1847-'48,  p.  631. 

Thus  much  for  the  origin  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  on  re-coloni- 


608  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

zation.  Now,  let  us  turn  to  the  position  of  John  Quincy  Adams, 
concerning  national  jealousy  of  the  designs  of  European  powers 
upon  the  island  of  Cuba.  The  recent  revelations  of  our  diplomacy 
on  that  subject  begin  with  the  period  when  that  statesman  pre- 
sided in  the  department  of  state.  On  the  17th  of  December, 
1822,  Mr.  Adams  informed  Mr.  Forsyth,  then  American  minister 
in  Spain,  that  "  the  island  of  Cuba  had  excited  much  attention, 
and  had  become  of  deep  interest  to  the  American  Union ;"  and, 
referring  to  reported  rival  designs  of  France  and  Great  Britain 
upon  that  island,  instructed  him  to  make  known  to  Spain  "  the 
sentiments  of  the  United  States,  which  were  favorable  to  the 
continuance  of  Cuba  in  its  connection  with  Spain."  On  the  28th 
of  April,  1823,  Mr.  Adams  thus  instructed  Mr.  Nelson,  the  suc- 
cessor of  Mr.  Forsyth  : — 

"The  islands  of  Cuba  and  Porto-Rico  still  remain,  nominally,  and  so  far  really  de- 
pendent upon  Spain,  that  she  yet  possesses  the  power  of  transferring  her  own  domin- 
ion over  them  to  others.  These  islands,  from  their  local  position,  are  natural  appen- 
dages to  the  North  American  continent;  and  one  of  them,  Cuba,  almost  in  sight  of  our 
shores,  from  a  multitude  of  considerations,  has  become  an  object  of  transcendent 
importance  to  the  commercial  and  political  interests  of  our  Union.  Its  commanding 
position,  with  reference  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico  and  the  West  India  seas;  the  character 
of its  population  ;  its  situation  midway  between  our  southern  coast  and  the  island  of 
St  Domingo ;  its  safe  and  capacious  harbor  of  the  Havana,  fronting  a  long  line  of  our 
shores  destitute  of  the  same  advantage ;  the  nature  of  its  productions  and  of  its  wants, 
furnishing  the  supplies  and  needing  the  returns  of  a  commerce  immensely  profitable 
and  mutually  beneficial — give  it  an  importance  in  the  sum  of  our  national  interests 
with  which  that  of  no  other  foreign  territory  can  be  compared,  and  little  inferior  to 
that  which  binds  the  different  members  of  this  Union  together.  Such,  indeed,  are,  be- 
tween the  interests  of  that  island  and  of  this  country,  the  geographical,  commercial, 
moral,  and  political  relations,  formed  by  nature,  gathering  in  the  process  of  time,  and 
even  now  verging  to  maturity,  that,  in  looking  forward  to  the  probable  course  of 
events,  for  the  short  period  of  half  a  century,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  resist  the  convic- 
tion that  the  annexation  of  Cuba  to  our  federal  republic  will  be  indispensable  to  the 
continuance  and  integrity  of  the  Union  itself.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that  for  this 
event  we  are  not  yet  prepared.  Numerous  and  formidable  objections  to  the  extension 
of  our  territorial  dominions  beyond  sea,  present  themselves  to  the  first  contemplation 
of  the  subject ;  obstacles  to  the  system  of  policy  by  which  alone  that  result  can  be 
compassed  and  maintained,  are  to  be  foreseen  and  surmounted,  both  from  at  home 
and  abroad ;  but  there  are  laws  of  political  as  well  as  of  physical  gravitation ;  and  if 
an  apple,  severed  by  the  tempest  from  its  native  tree,  can  not  choose  but  fall  to  the 
ground,  Cuba,  forcibly  disjoined  from  its  own  unnatural  connection  with  Spain,  and 
incapable  of  self-support,  can  gravitate  only  toward  the  North  American  Union,  which, 
by  the  same  law  of  nature,  can  not  cast  her  off  from  its  bosom. 

"It  will  be  among  the  primary  objects  requiring  your  most  earnest  and  unremitting 
attention,  to  ascertain  and  report  to  us  every  movement  of  negotiation  between  Spain 
and  Great  Britain  upon  this  subject.  *  *  *  *  So  long  as  the  constitutional  gov- 
ernment may  continue  to  be  administered  in  the  name  of  the  king,  your  official  inter- 
course will  be  with  his  ministers,  and  to  them  you  will  repeat,  what  Mr.  Forsyth  has 
been  instructed  to  say,  that  the  wishes  of  your  government  are  that  Cuba  and  Porto- 
Rieo  may  continue  in  connection  with  independent  and  constitutional  Spain." 

Thirty  years  afterward,  viz :  on  the  4th  day  of  January,  1853, 
the  senator  from   Michigan  (Mr.  Cass,)  without  one   word   of 


CONTINENTAL   RIGHTS    AND   RELATIONS.  609 

acknowledgment  of  Mr.  Adams's  agency  in  instituting  those 
measures  of  "progress"  toward  the  "manifest  destiny"  of  the 
country,  submitted  the  resolutions  which  are  under  consideration, 
and  which  are  in  these  words  :  — 

"Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  Congress  assembled,  That  the  United  States  do  hereby  declare,  that  '  the  American 
continents,  by  the  free  and  independent  condition  which  they  have  assumed  and 
maintain,  are  henceforth  not  to  be  considered  as  subjects  for  future  colonization  by 
any  European  power ; '  and  while  '  existing  rights  should  be  respected,'  and  will  be  by 
the  United  States,  they  owe  it  to  their  own  '  safety  and  interests  '  to  announce,  as  they 
now  do,  '  that  no  future  European  colony  or  dominion  shall,  with  their  consent,  be 
planted  or  established  on  any  part  of  the  North  American  continent ; '  and  should  the 
attempt  be  made,  they  thus  deliberately  declare  that  it  will  be  viewed  as  an  act  origi- 
nating in  motives  regardless  of  their  '  interests  and  their  safety,'  and  which  will  leave 
them  free  to  adopt  such  measures  as  an  independent  nation  may  justly  adopt  in  de- 
fence of  its  rights  and  its  honor. 

"And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  while  the  United  States  disclaim  any  designs  upon 
the  island  of  Cuba,  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  nations,  and  with  their  duties  to 
Spain,  they  consider  it  due  to  the  vast  importance  of  the  subject  to  make  known,  in 
this  solemn  manner,  that  they  should  view  all  efforts  on  the  part  of  any  other  power 
to  procure  possession,  whether  peaceabty  or  forcibly,  of  that  island,  which,  as  a  naval  or 
military  position,  might,  under  circumstances  easy  to  be  foreseen,  become  dangerous 
to  their  southern  coast,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  as 
unfriendly  acts  directed  against  them,  to  be  resisted  by  all  the  means  in  their  power." 

In  bringing  together  these  actions  of  John  Quincy  Adams  in 
1822,  and  of  the  senator  from  Michigan  in  1853,  and  placing 
them  in  juxtaposition  in  the  history  of  the  senate,  I  have  done  all 
that  the  senator  from  Michigan  seems  to  have  left  undone,  to 
vindicate  the  departed  statesman  from  the  censures  heaped  upon 
him  by  the  living  one  in  1850. 

I  proceed  to  consider  the  resolutions  thus  offered  by  the  sena- 
tor from  Michigan. 

The  honorable  senator  from  New  Hampshire  offers  an  amend- 
ment, as  a  condition  of  his  vote,  in  these  words : 

"And  be  it  further  resolved,  That  while  the  United  States  in  like  manner  disclaim 
any  designs  upon  Canada,  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  nations,  and  with  their  duties 
to  Great  Britain,  they  consider  it  due  to  the  vast  importance  of  the  subject  to  make 
known,  in  this  solemn  manner,  that  they  should  view  all  efforts  on  the  part  of  any 
other  power  to  procure  possession,  whether  peaceably  or  forcibly,  of  that  province, 
which,  as  a  naval  or  military  position,  must,  under  circumstances  easy  to  be  foreseen, 
become  dangerous  to  their  northern  boundary,  and  to  the  lakes,  as  unfriendly  acts 
directed  against  them,  to  be  resisted  by  all  the  means  in  their  power." 

I  will  vote  for  that  amendment.  It  is  not  well  expressed.  But 
it  implies  the  same  policy  in  regard  to  Canada  which  the  main 
resolutions  assert  concerning  Cuba.  The  colonies,  when  they 
confederated  in  1775,  invited  Canada  to  come  in.  Montgomery 
gave  up  his  life  in  scaling  the  Heights  of  Abraham,  in  the  same 

Vol.  III.— 39 


610 


SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 


year,  to  bring  her  in.  Scott,  in  1814,  poured  out  his  blood  at 
Chippewa  to  bring  her  in.  If  the  proposition  shall  fail,  I  shall 
lament  it  as  a  repudiation  by  the  senate  of  a  greater  national 
interest  than  any  other  distinct  one  involved  in  this  debate ;  but 
I  shall,  nevertheless,  vote  for  the  resolutions  of  the  senator  from 
Michigan.     I  shall  do  so,  because — 

1.  The  reverence  I  cherish  for  the  memory  of  John  Quincy 
Adams,  the  illustrious  author  of  the  policy  which  they  embody, 
inclines  me  to  support  them. 

2.  While  I  do  not  desire  t^e  im  mediate  or  parly  annexation 
of  Cuba,  nor  see  how  I  could  vote  for  it  at  all  until  slavery  shall 

have  ceased  to^flnnteraet  the  workings  of  nature  J"  thai,  hea/nt.ifnl 
island,  nor  even  then,  unless  it  could  come  into  the  Union  without 
injustice  to  Spain,  without  aggressive  war,  and  without  producing 
internal  dissensions  among  ourselves,  I  nevertheless  yield  up  my 
full  assent  to  the  convictions  expressed  by  John  Quincy  Adams, 
that  this  nation  can  never  safely  allow  the  island  of  Cuba  to  pass 
under  the  dominion  of  any  power  that  is  already,  or  can  become, 
a  formidable  rival  or  enemy ;  and  can  not  safely  consent  to  the 
restoration  of  colonial  relations  between  any  portions  of  this  con- 
tinent and  the  monarchies  of  Europe. 

The  re-establishment  of  such  relations  would,  of  course,  repro- 
duce, in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  the  commercial  and  political 
embarrassments  of  our  relations  with  other  American  communities, 
and  even  with  European  nations,  from  which  we  obtained  relief 
only  through  the  war  of  1812,  and  the  subsequent  emancipation 
of  the  Spanish  colonies  on  this  continent,  and  their  organization 
as  free  and  independent  republics.  Sir,  I  am  willing,  on  the 
demand  of  the  senator  from  Michigan,  or  of  any  other  leader, 
and  without  any  demand  from  any  leader,  to  declare  myself 
opposed — radically  opposed  —  opposed  at  all  times,  now,  hence- 
forth, and  for  ever — opposed,  at  the  risk  of  all  hazards  and  con- 
sequences, to  any  design  of  any  state  or  states  on  this  continent, 
or  anywhere  else,  which  may,  by  possibility,  result  in  reprodu- 
cing those  evils — the  greatest  which  could  befall  this  country, 
short  of  that  greatest  of  all,  to  which  they  would  open  the  way — 
the  subversion  of  our  own  hard- won  independence,  and  the  return 
ing  dominion  of  some  European  power  over  ourselves.  I  shal1, 
therefore,  vote  for  these  resolutions,  if  it  shall  please  the  senate* 
to  come  to  decisive  action  upon  them ;  and  I  shall  vote  for  rs- 


CONTINENTAL  RIGHTS  AND  RELATIONS.  611 

afhrming  and  maintaining  the  principles  of  John  Quincy  Adams, 
as  denned  in  the  Monroe  doctrine,  and  in  his  policy  in  regard  to 
Cuba,  at  all  times,  and  under  all  circumstances  whatsoever. 

But  while  thus  expressing  my  devotion  to  those  principles,  I 
can  not  too  strongly  express  myself  against  the  manner  in  which 
they  have  been  brought  in  issue  here  on  this  occasion.  The  issue 
is  made  at  a  time,  and  under  circumstances,  which  render  it  in- 
evitable that  we  must  fail,  signally  fail,  in  maintaining  the  great 
principles  which  it  involves. 

This  issue  is  raised  at  a  wrong  time.  We  are  more  than  half 
way  through  a  session  constitutionally  limited  to  ninety  days, 
and  engaged  with  vast  and  various  subjects  which  can  not  be 
disposed  of  without  long  and  most  discursive  debate. 

I  think  the  issue  is  raised  in  a  wrong  way.  Practically,  and 
by  custom,  the  president  of  the  United  States  holds  the  initiative 
of  measures  affecting  foreign  relations.  The  president  now  in 
the  executive  house  will  go  out  in  thirty  days,  and  his  sanction, 
even  if  we  had  it,  would  therefore  be  of  no  value.  But  even 
that  sanction,  such  as  it  would  be,  is  withheld' — and,  I  must  con- 
fess, rightly  withheld.  The  people  have  elected  a  new  president, 
who  is  just  ready  to  enter  on  administration,  and  upon  whom 
the  responsibilities  of  the  conduct  of  foreign  relations,  for  four 
years  at  least,  must  rest.  Not  only  do  we  not  know  what  iris 
opinions  on  this  question  are,  but  our  action  would  anticipate  the 
publication  of  those  opinions,  and  embarrass — is  it  too  strong 
an  expression  to  say,  factiously  embarrass? — the  incoming  ad- 
ministration. 

Moreover,  we  are  not  only  required  to  advance  in  this  matter 
without  the  light  that  executive  exposition  might  throw  upon  our 
p? th,  but  we  are  required  to  proceed  without  the  aid  or  advice 
of  the  committee  to  whom  the  care  of  foreign  relations  has  been 
confided  by  the  senate,  and,  as  there  is  reason  to  believe,  in  op- 
position to  their  deliberate  judgment. 

Again,  it  results  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case  that  a  ma- 
jority for  the  resolutions  can  not  be  obtained,  either  in  the  senate, 
or  in  Congress,  or  in  the  country. 

The  principles  involved  in  the  resolutions  have  become  a  tra- 
dition among  the  American  people,  and  on  acknowledged  occa- 
sions they  would  act  upon  them  as  traditions  vigorously  and  with 
unanimity.     On  the  other  hand,  the  Americans  are  a  practical 


612  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

people,  engrossed  with  actual  business  affairs ;  and  they  will  nrJ- 
act  upon  abstract  principles,  howrever  approved,  unless  ther°.  ne 
a  necessity,  or  at  least  an  occasion.  So  it  has  happened  with  tne 
Monroe  doctrine  on  re-colonization,  and  with  the  national  policy 
concerning  Cuba.  They  are  thirty  years  old  ;  they  are  generally 
accepted :  and  yet,  not  only  have  they  never  been  affirmed  by 
Congress,  but  Congress  has  refused  to  affirm  them,  solely  for  the 
reason  that  there  was  no  pressing  necessity,  no  particular  occa- 
sion, for  such  an  affirmation.  Whenever  a  necessity  or  an  occa- 
sion arises,  it  produces  a  popular  sentiment  or  passion.  The 
northern  states  are  content  now ;  they  do  not  fear  re-colonization, 
and  do  not  want  Cuba.  The  southern  states  are  content ;  they 
do  not  now  desire  political  excitement,  and  they  are  not  prepared 
for  anything  that  may  involve  the  nation  in  war.  It  is  not  to  be 
denied,  also,  that  the  recent  unwise  and  unnecessary  exposition 
of  our  diplomatic  correspondence,  throughout  a  period  of  thirty 
years,  concerning  the  island  of  Cuba,  is  regarded  as  having  created 
embarrassments  which  only  the  lapse  of  some  time  can  remove. 

The  senator  from  Michigan  seems  to  be  aware  of  these  difficul- 
ties, and  therefore  he  labors  to  show  that  there  is  a  necessity,  or 
at  least  an  occasion,  for  action.  But  he  fails  altogether  in  show- 
ing any  new  occasion — which,  to  the  apprehension  of  the  senate 
and  the  country,  is  equivalent  to  failing  to  show  any  necessity  or 
occasion.  What  are  his  facts  ?  First,  in  regard  to  Great  Britain 
and  re-colonization.  The  grasping  spirit  shown  by  Great  Britain 
in  the  Maine  border  question,  and  in  the  Oregon  question.  The 
Monroe  doctrine,  as  expounded  by  Monroe  himself,  declared  that 
existing  rights  were  to  be  respected :  Great  Britain  asserted  that 
her  claims  in  those  cases  were  existing  rights.  Those  questions 
have  been  settled,  rightly  or  wrongly,  and  have  passed  away. 
What  more?  The  British  claim  on  the  Mosquito  coast?  That, 
also,  is  settled  by  treaty.  The  organization  of  the  Bay  of  Islands 
as  a  distinct  colony?  That,  too,  falls  within  the  subject-matter 
of  a  treaty.  In  each  of  these  cases  Great  Britain  has  violated 
treaty  stipulations,  or  she  has  not.  If  she  has  not,  then  there  is. 
no  cause  for  any  action :  if  she  has,  then  the  remedy  is  not  an 
affirmance  of  the  Monroe  doctrine,  but  direct  protest  or  war. 

I  give  Great  Britain  small  credit  for  moderation.  I  think  sTK< 
has  just  as  much  as  we  have,  and  no  more.  We  are  of  the  same 
stock,  and  have  the  common  passion  of  a  common  race  for  do* 


CONTINENTAL  RIGHTS  AND  RELATIONS.  613 

minion.  But  the  country  will  be  unable  to  discover  that  the 
recent  events  show  any  aggressions  on  her  part  which  constitute 
an  occasion  for  an  affirmance  of  the  Monroe  doctrine  by  Congress. 
And  now,  secondly,  as  to  Cuba.  What  has  Great  Britain  done? 
Nothing  but  just  what  we  have  done.  She  has  sent  armed  ships 
to  prevent  invaders  from  revolutionizing  the  island,  and  so  sev- 
ering it  from  its  ancient  connection  with  Spain.  We  have  done 
the  same.  She  has  also  proposed  to  enter  into  an  agreement  with 
us  that  neither  will  acquire  Cuba,  or  suffer  others  to  acquire  it. 
We  have  declined.  The  natural  conclusion  would  be,  that  she 
was  more  forbearing  than  we.  But  the  senator  avoids  this  by 
charging  that  the  proposition  was  insincerely  and  hypocritically 
made  on  her  part.  British  writers  were  before  him  in  making 
that  charge  against  us,  founded  on  our  voluntary  revelations  of 
our  own  diplomacy  in  regard  to  Cuba.  I  am  too  American  to 
confess  their  charge  to  be  just,  and  not  enough  American  to  fling 
it  back  upon  Great  Britain  for  mere  retaliation. 

What  has  France  done  by  way  of  re-colonization  ?  Nothing, 
A  French  adventurer,  Count  Boulbon,  has  attempted  to  revolu- 
tionize the  Mexican  state  of  Sonora,  and  failed.  There  is  not  a 
word  of  evidence  to  connect  the  French  government  or  people 
with  that  movement.  And  for  all  that  French  newspapers  here 
or  in  Paris  may  say,  we  know  full  well  that  just  as  fast  as  the 
Mexican  states  shall  be  severed  from  the  Mexican  stock,  by 
whomsoever  it  may  be  effected,  they  will  seek  annexation,  not  to 
France  or  to  any  other  European  power,  but  to  the  United  States. 
Nor  has  France  interposed,  in  regard  to  Cuba,  otherwise  than  as 
we  have  ourselves  interposed  —  to  keep  it  in  the  possession  of 
Spain. 

So  much  for  the  acts  of  European  powers  on  the  subjects  of 
colonization  and  Cuba. 

What  remains  of  the  senator's  case  seems  scarcely  to  merit 
grave  consideration.  It  consists,  first,  of  ominous  articles  in 
newspapers.  But  even  we,  the  most  newspaper-loving  nation  in 
the  world,  make  our  designs  and  policy  known,  not  through  the 
newspapers,  but  by  public  acts  and  official  agents ;  and  France 
and  Great  Britain  do  the  same.  The  press  speaks  on  all  occa- 
sions, but  for  itself  always.  No  wise  and  calm  statesman  in  either- 
country  feels  himself  compromised  by  what  the  press  may  assume 
to  speak  for  or  against  him,  much  less  does  either  government 


\ 


614  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

acknowledge  any  necessity  for  avowing  or  disavowing  what  the 
press  may  allege.  The  language  of  the  press  of  any  country, 
therefore,  even  if  it  were  general,  would  not  warrant  national 
action  by  any  other  government :  much  less  would,  that  language 
warrant  such  action  when  it  was  spoken  by  only  one  out  of  a 
thousand  or  five  thousand  journals. 

Secondly,  the  senator  from  Michigan  invokes  our  attention  to 
what  Lord  George  Bentinck  has  said  in  the  British  parliament. 
Well,  sir,  that  is  important,  what  an  English  lord,  has  said,  and 
said  in  parliament,  too ;  that  must  be  looked  into.  Well,  what 
did  Lord  George  Bentinck  say  ?  Sir,  he  said  very  angry  things 
— very  furious  things  —  indeed,  very  ferocious  things.  Prepare 
yourself  to  hear  them,  sir.  Lord  George  Bentinck  did  say,  in 
so  many  wwds — and  in  parliament,  too  !  —  what  I  am  going  to 
repeat.     His  lordship  did  say  that — 

"He  quite  agreed  with  Captain  Pilkington." 

Ay,  sir,  his  lordship  did  say  that  "  he  quite  agreed  with  Cap- 
tain Pilkington  !"  Ominous  words — fearful  conjunction  :  an  Eng- 
lish lord  and  an  English  captain !  But  this  was  not  all,  not  by 
any  means  all  that  Lord  George  Bentinck  said.     He  said,  also  — 

"  They  would  never  put  down  the  slave-trade,  so  long  as  it  de- 
pended upon  blockading  ten  thousand,  two  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  of  coast ;  and  he  would  do  what  Captain  Pilkington  had 
recommended."  And  what  do  you  think  it  was  that  Captain 
Pilkington  had  recommended  ?  Be  patient,  I  pray  you,  and  hear 
Lord  George  Bentinck  explain.  What  Captain  Pilkington  rec- 
ommended was,  "  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  head,  and  not  the  hand. 
He  would  not  send  an  army  to  destroy  every  individual  hornet, 
but  he  would  go  to  the  hornet's  nest  at  once !"  Yes,  sir ;  and 
Lord  George  Bentinck  not  only  echoed  all  these  severe  things 
which  had  been  said  by  Captain  Pilkington,  as  aforesaid,  but  he 
said  also  on  his  own  account :  "  Let  us  take  possession  of  Cuba, 
and  settle  the  question  altogether.  Let  us  distrain  upon  it  for 
the  just  debt  due,  and  too  long  asked  in  vain,  from  the  Spanish 
government."  As  for  the  rest  of  the  alarming  sayings  of  hia 
lordship,  I  forbear  from  repeating  them.  Are  they  not  written 
in  the  "  Appendix  to  the  Congressional  Globe"  for  the  years  184 1' 
and  1848,  published  by  Blair  and  Rives,  printers  of  the  debated 
of  Congress,  at  page  607  ? 

And  now,  sir,  it  may  assuage  the  passion  and  abate  the  fear 


CONTINENTAL  RIGHTS  AND  RELATIONS.  615 

that  these  threats  of  Lord  George  Bentinck  to  distrain  upon  a 
hornet's  nest  have  excited,  when  I  state,  first,  that  they  are  old, 
and  not  new.  They  were  uttered  five  years  ago  :  namely,  on  the 
3d  of  March,  1848.  Secondly,  that  George  Bentinck  was  a  lord 
only  by  courtesy,  and  not  a  real  lord.  Thirdly,  that  Lord  George 
Bentinck  was  in  a  very  harmless  minority  in  parliament  when  he 
uttered  them,  it  being,  indeed,  unknown  that  he  had  any  confed- 
erate in  his  wicked  designs  but  Captain  Pilkington.  Fourthly, 
that  this  alleged  speech  was  brought  before  the  senate  and  the 
American  people,  in  1848,  by  a  late  member  of  this  body,  whose 
constitutional  proclivity  to  wit  and  humor  was  so  great  as  to  just- 
ify the  belief  that  the  speech,  like  the  Donaldson  and  Greer  cor- 
respondence, was  a  hoax  (Mr.  "W ).     Fifthly,  that  Lord  George 

Bentinck  died  some  years  ago ;  and  Captain  Pilkington  not  hav- 
ing been  heard  of  for  a  long  time,  there  is  a  strong  presumption 
that  the  loss  of  his  noble  friend  and  chivalrous  ally  has  thrown 
him  into  a  decline. 

The  tone  of  the  speech  of  the  senator  from  Louisiana  (Mr. 
Soule)  was  one  of  complaint  against  the  administration  of  our 
government,  and  against  France  and  Great  Britain.  The  admin- 
istration was  censured  for  austerity  toward  the  associates  of  Lopez. 
But  either  it  could  have  protected  or  vindicated  them  consistently 
with  law  and  treaties,  or  it  could  not.  If  it  could,  then  the  sena- 
tor's censures  are  too  lenient ;  if  it  could  not,  they  are  altogether 
urjust.  Since  the  day  when  the  gifted,  ingenuous,  and  gentle 
Andre  was  executed  on  a  gallows  as  a  spy,  by  order  of  Washing- 
ton, we  have  known  the  painful  delicacy  of  executing  general 
xaws  upon  persons  whose  motives  and  bearing  justly  excited  our 
respect  and  compassion.  The  senator's  sympathy  in  this  case  is 
lignt.  It  is  only  the  perversion  of  it  to  awaken  prejudice  against 
the  administration  that  I  condemn.  France  and  Great  Britain 
nit;  said  to  have  menaced  us  by  saying,  in  their  correspondence, 
that  a  renewal  of  such  an  expedition  as  that  of  Lopez  might  en- 
danger the  peace  of  the  nations.  No  such  expedition  can  be 
undertaken  of  which  it  can  be  certainly  affirmed  that  it  will  not 
m  its  consequences  lead  to  a  war.  I  think,  therefore,  that  none 
but  a  jaundiced  eye,  such  as  does  not  belong  to  the  president,  or 
to  tne  secretary  of  state,  could  have  discovered  the  insult  thus 
complained  of,  and  that  therefore  they  may  be  excused  for  hav- 
ing received  it  in  silence. 


616  SPEECHES  m  THE  UMITED  STATES  SENATE 

The  senator  shows  ns  that,  six  or  seven  years  ago,  Spain  her- 
self meditated  the  establishment  of  a  monarchy  in  New  Granada ; 
and  only  one  hundred  and  forty  years  ago,  a  proposition  was 
made  to  the  British  ministry  to  privately  seize  the  island  of  Cuba 
in  a  time  of  peace  and  friendship.  These  facts  would  have  been 
pertinent,  perhaps,  if  the  senator  had  advised  us  to  seize  the  Ha- 
vana. But  I  understood  him,  on  the  contrary,  to  discountenance 
not  only  conquest,  but  even  purchase,  and  to  agree  wTith  those  of 
us  who  propose  to  wait  for  the  fruit  to  ripen,  although  he  has 
been  at  some  pains  to  show  us  that  it  may  rot  in  the  ripening. 
Indeed,  Mr.  President,  the  senator's  argument  seemed  to  me  a 
meandering  stream  that  visited  and  touched  all  the  banks  of  con- 
troversy, but  glided  gracefully  away  from  them,  and  especially 
avoided  plunging  into  the  depths  of  any  conclusion. 

Its  tendency,  I  think,  was  to  exasperate  the  American  people 
against  the  European  powers,  and  to  irritate  them.  I  can  not 
sympathize  with  such  a  spirit.  I  would  submit  to  no  real  wrong, 
and  justify  no  oppression  or  tyranny  committed  by  them.  But, 
on  the  other  hand,  I  will  seek  no  factitious  cause  of  controversy. 
I  want  no  war  with  them.  We  are  sure  to  grow  by  peace.  A 
war  between  the  two  continents  would  be  a  war  involving  not 
merely  a  trial  which  was  the  strongest,  but  the  integrity  of  our 
republic.  Before  such  a  war  shall  come,  I  want  to  see  Canada 
transferred  from  her  false  position  in  Europe,  to  her  true  position 
on  this  continent ;  Texas  peopled  like  Massachusetts ;  the  interioi 
of  the  continent  cultivated  like  Ohio ;  and  Oregon  and  California 
not  only  covered  like  New  York  with  forts,  and  arsenals,  and 
docks,  and  navy-yards,  but  grappled  fast  to  New  York  and  Wash- 
ington by  an  iron  chain  that  shall  stretch  its  links  through  thfc 
passes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  the  Rocky  mountains. 

The  senator  tells  us  that  the  question  of  the  acquisition  of  Cuba 
may  be  upon  us  to-morrow,  and  may  not  be  upon  us  for  twenty- 
five  years.  That  is  to  say,  it  stands  now,  so  far  as  we  can  see. 
where  it  has  stood  for  twenty-five  years  past.  But  he  advisen  u* 
to  be  ready.  That  is  just  what  I  propose  to  do.  And  the  wav 
to  keep  ready  is  to  keep  cool.  If  we  keep  cool,  we  shall  be  non* 
the  less  prepared,  if  the  portentous  question  shall  indeed  come 
to-morrow  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  excessive  heat  prematurely 
generated  will  be  sure  to  pass  off  before  the  expiration  of  tlM 
longer  period. 


CONTINENTAL  RIGHTS  AND  RELATIONS.  617 

Mr.  President,  let  us  survey  our  ground  carefully  and  com- 
pletely. Political  action,  like  all  other  human  action,  is  regu- 
lated by  laws  higher  than  the  caprice  or  policy  of  princes,  kings, 
and  states.  There  is  a  time  for  colonization,  and  there  is  a  time 
for  independence.  The  colonization  of  the  American  hemisphere 
by  European  powers  was  the  work  of  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries ;  the  breaking  up  of  colonial  dependence,  and 
the  rise  of  independent  American  states,  is  the  work  of  the  eigh-  . 
teenth  and  nineteenth  centuries.  It  is  a  work  tliaT  does  not  go^  ^ 
on  as  broadly  and  as  rapidly  as~we  could  wishP  but  it  doesjiot_go__ 
backward.  It  goes  faster  than  was  to  have  been  expected  under 
the  circumstances,  for  it  began  when  the  United  States  alone,  of 
all  the  colonies,  Spanish,  French,  and  English,  had  attained  ade- 
quate strength  and  sufficient  preparation  for  successful  self-gov- 
ernment. European  states  can  not  establish  new  colonies  here, 
for  the  same  reason  that  they  can  not  long  retain  their  old  ones. 
As  for  France,  she  surrendered  all  her  continental  American 
empire  to  Great  Britain  in  1763,  except  Louisiana  and  Cayenne. 
Napoleon  sold  Louisiana  to  us  in  1803,  because  even  he  could 
not  keep  it  for  France.  She  keeps  Cayenne  only  because  it  is 
not  worth  the  cost  of  conquest.  What  does  she  want  of  more 
American  colonies,  to  be  severed  from  her  as  soon  as  matured? 

Great  Britain,  too,  lost  in  the  American  Revolution  all  her 
American  possessions  but  a  remnant.  She  keeps  the  remnant 
from  pride,  not  interest,  as  Spain  does  Cuba.  What  does  she 
want  of  more  American  colonies,  to  draw  upon  the  home-treasury 
for  defence  and  support,  and  to  become  independent  as  soon  as 
they  shall  become  strong  ?  Canada  is  only  a  nominal  colony  or 
dependency.  Great  Britain  yet  retains  Canada,  only  by  yielding 
to  her  what  she  denied  to  us  —  fiscal  independence. 

And  now,  what  does  France  or  Great  Britain  want  of  Cuba? 
It  is  a  slave-colony.  They  have  abolished  slavery  in  all  their 
possessions.  Should  either  of  them  obtain  that  island,  the  first, 
act  of  government  there  must  be  the  abolition  of  slavery.  The 
abDlition  of  slavery,  too,  must  be  made  with  compensation,  and 
the  compensation  must  be  drawn  from  the  home-treasury.  Will 
either  ot  tuem  take  Cuba  at  such  a  cost?  And  what  would  Cuba, 
CT£J&>ut  slavery,  be  worth  to  either  of  those  powers?  Let  their 
experier  se  in  the  West  Indies  answer.  Cuba,  without  slavery, 
would  be  valueless  to  any  European  state.     Cuba,  with  slavery, 


G18  SPEECHES  EST  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

can  belong  to  no  European  state  bnt  Spain.  Cuba,  without 
slavery,  would  be  worthless  to  any  power  but  the  United  States, 
and  John  Quincy  Adams  was  right :  Cuba,  either  with  or  with- 
out slavery,  gravitates  toward,  and  will  ultimately  fall  into,  the 
American  Union. 

What,  then  !  has  France  ceased  to  be  ambitions,  and  has  Great 
Britain  adopted  the  policy  that  Augustus  Caesar  bequeathed  to 
Rome,  to  forbear  from  extending  the  bounds  of  empire  ?  Not  at 
all.  France  and  Engl  an  d_  are  unchanged.  I  do  not  know  that 
as  yet  they  have  learned  that  their  power  can~not  be  renewed^or 
restored  in  America.  But  jT^o  know  that  they  will  find  it  out 
when  they  try  to  renew  and  restore  it  again ;  and  therefore  all 
the  alarms  raised  by  the  senator  from  Michigan  pass  by  me  like 
the  idle  winds.  The  Monroe  doctrine  was  a  right  one — the  policy 
was  a  right  one,  not  because  it  would  require  to  be  enforced  by 
arms,  but  because  it  was  well-timed.  It  was  the  result  of  a  saga- 
cious discovery  of  the  tendency  of  the  age.  It  will  prevail  if  you 
affirm  it.  It  will  equally  prevail  if  you  neglect  to  affirm  it  here- 
after as  you  have  refused  to  do  heretofore.  As  a  practical  ques- 
tion, therefore,  it  has  ceased  to  be.  It  is  obsolete.  You  are 
already  the  great  continental  power  of  America.  But  does  that 
content  you  ?  I  trust  it  does  not.  You  want  the  commerce  of 
the  world,  which  is  the  empire  of  the  world.  This  is  to  be  looked 
for,  not  on  the  American  lakes,  nor  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  nor  on 
the  Caribbean  sea,  nor  on  the  Mediterranean,  nor  on  the  Baltic, 
nor  on  the  Atlantic  ocean,  but  on  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  its 
islands  and  continents.  Be  not  over-confident.  Disregard  not 
France,  and  England,  and  Russia.  Watch  them  with  jealousy, 
and  baffle  their  designs  against  you.  But  look  for  those  great 
rivals  where  they  are  to  be  found  —  on  those  continents  and  seas 
in  the  East  where  the  prize  which  you  are  contending  with  them 
for  is  to  be  found.  Open  up  a  highway  through  your  country 
from  New  York  to  San  Francisco.  Put  your  domain  under  cul- 
tivation, and  your  ten  thousand  wheels  of  manufacture  in  motion. 
Multiply  your  ships,  and  send  them  forth  to  the  East.  The  na« 
tion  that  draws  most  materials  and  provisions  from  the  earth,  and 
fabricates  the  most,  and  sells  the  most  of  productions  and  fabric-) 
to  foreign  nations,  must  be,  and  will  be,  the  great  power  of  thi 
earth. 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  BUELL.  61  !> 


ALEXAIDEE   HAMILTON   BUELL.* 

JANUARY    31,    1853. 

Mr.  President  :  scarcely  two  weeks  ago  we  arrested  the  de- 
hates  of  the  house  of  representatives  by  a  message  announcing  the 
death  of  a  senator  from  Vermont.  To-day,  when  we  have  not 
yet  reached  the  subject  assigned  for  discussion,  the  house  of 
representatives  appeals  to  us  for  condolence  in  its  bereavement 
of  a  delegate  from  New  York.  So  frequent  are  the  monitions  we 
receive,  teaching  us,  that  although  we  are  the  legislators  of  a 
great  nation,  we  are,  nevertheless,  also  subjects  of  a  king  who  is 
not  of  this  world,  and  of  whose  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end. 

New  York  has  thirty-four  Congressional  districts,  according  to 
the  constitution  of  the  present  Congress.  The  seventeenth  of 
those  districts  includes  that  part  of  the  valley  of  the  Mohawk 
river,  which,  in  the  revolutionary  age,  was  the  western  border, 
but  which  is  now  the  middle  region  of  the  state.  At  an  early 
stage  in  the  war  of  independence,  Herkimer,  a  plebeian  patriot 
general,  fell  in  repelling  a  British  force  from  that  beautiful  val- 
ley ;  and  Montgomery,  one  of  higher  connections,  gave  up  his  life 
in  the  attempt  to  scale  the  heights  of  Abraham,  which  were  the 
stronghold  of  the  invaders.  The  Continental  Congress  decreed 
a  monument  to  the  memory  of  Herkimer,  but  the  decree  yet  re- 
mains unexecuted.  New  York,  more  just,  erased  from  the  valley 
of  the  Mohawk  the  political  name  of  Try  on,  which  it  bore  in  honor 
of  a  British  governor,  and,  dividing  the  region  into  two  counties, 
bestowed  the  name  of  Herkimer  upon  that  one  within  whose 
limits  he  had  fallen,  and  on  the  other  the  name  of  Jtfie  chivalrous 
hero  of  Quebec.  These  counties,  as  they  n^w  are,  after  many 
civil  changes,  constitute  the  seventeenth^  district  of  which  the 
deceased.  Alexander  Hamilton  Buell,  was  the  representative.  In 
the  contest  of  organic  principles  which  attended  the  establish- 
ment of  Jie  federal  constitution,  the  people  of  that  part  of  New 

*  Eulogium  on  Hon.  A.  H.  Buell,  a  member  of  the  house  from  the  state  of  New  York. 


620  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

York  followed  the  safe  lead  and  guidance  of  Schuyler,  Jay,  and 
Hamilton.  But  when,  without  a  change  of  party  organization, 
that  contest  was  followed  by  a  new  one,  involving  the  principles 
of  political  action,  that  people  came  generally  to  the  adoption  of 
the  benignant  and  comprehensive  philosophy  of  Jefferson,  and 
they  still  adhere  to  it  as  It  was  taught  by  himself.  Nowhere,  not 
even  in  that  great  statesman's  native  commonwealth,  are  his 
principles  more  highly  cherished,  and  more  firmly  maintained, 
than  in  the  region  which  I  have  mentioned ;  and  not  only  there, 
but  throughout  the  state  of  New  York.  We  do,  indeed,  break 
into  parties,  and  undergo  changes  of  combination  there  as  the 
American  people  do  everywhere ;  but  it  is  only  as  religious 
bodies  divide  and  recombine,  each  sect  striving  to  get  nearer  to 
the  original  and  common  standard  of  faith. 

New  York,  so  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  had 
very  few  considerable  institutions  of  learning.  But  it  was  the 
good  fortune  of  the  deceased  that  he  was  born  and  reared  in 
Fairfield,  in  IJerkimer  county,  where  some  settlers  from  Connec- 
ticut had  thus  early  founded  an  academy  that  has  since  given 
many  eminent  men  to  the  service  of  the  state. 

Mr.  Buell's  father  was  short-lived,  and  his  son's  patrimony  was 
exhausted  in  his  education.  With  a  mother  and  sisters  thrown 
npon  him  for  support,  he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  profession  at 
home.  Afterward,  as  capital  and  credit  increased,  he  established, 
from  time  to  time,  branches  in  adjacent  towns  and  counties. 
Ultimately,  when  the  gold  coast  on  the  Pacific  ocean  was  opened 
«o  American  commerce,  Mr.  Buell,  without  giving  up  any  of  his 
domestic  footholds  of  trade,  extended  his  business  into  California, 
and  the  unpretending  merchant  of  Fairfield,  in  New  York,  had 
also  his  crowded  warehouses  in  San  Francisco. 

It  is  almost  needless  to  say  that  he  was  a  man  of  probity,  of 
assiduity  directed  by  keen  sagacity,  and  of  energy  regulated  by 
exemplary  moderation.  Nevertheless,  had  these  been  his  only 
marked  qualities,  he  would  never  have  been  among  us  here.  He 
cultivated  all  domestic,  and  social,  and  public  virtues,  and  so  he 
won  early  and  he  steadfastly  retained  the  respect  and  affection 
of  the  community  in  which  he  lived.  They  admired  his  fortunes, 
but  they  admired  still  more  the  man. 

"All  who  deserv'd  esteem  he  made  his  own, 
And  to  be  lov'd  himself  but  needed  to  be  known." 


ALEXANDER  HAMILTON  BUELL.  621 

He  reached  his  high  position,  however,  not  in  a  day,  but 
through  the  exercise  of  care,  activity,  and  energy,  for  many 
years.  In  1845,  he  represented  his  fellow-citizens  in  the  legis- 
lature of  New  York,  and  in  1850,  he  was  advanced  to  the  honors 
of  a  representative  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States.  He 
brought  to  the  discharge  of  that  high  trust  the  same  faculties  and 
virtues  which  had  distinguished  him  in  the  occupations  of  private 
life.  He  was  prompt,  punctual,  active,  and  assiduous  ;  conscien- 
tious in  the  votes  he  gave  with  fidelity  to  the  principles  of  his 
constituents,  and  yet  tolerant  of  the  opinions,  and  charitable  in 
his  construction  of  the  motives  of  all  others.  He  did  not,  indeed, 
debate.  Debate  in  these  halls  either  wins  a  great  influence,  or 
utterly  wastes  the  speaker's  power.  He  exercised  that  calmer 
influence  which  is  felt  by  all,  and  the  manner  of  which  is  seen  by 
no  one. 

Two  weeks  ago  he  hastened  back  from  his  distant  home  by 
night,  through  an  inclement  storm,  to  assure  his  wife  of  the 
recovery  of  a  child  whom  he  had  visited  there.  The  disease 
which  was  to  become  mortal  attended  him  to  his  chamber.  He 
died  yesterday  morning ;  and  although  he  had  attained  the  ripe 
age  of  fifty-one  years,  yet  he  died  without  having  encountered 
an  ebb  of  fortune  or  of  public  favor.  On  the  contrary,  growing 
■prosperity  and  higher  honors  seemed  to  be  soliciting  him  to 
live  on. 

I  know,  Mr.  President,  that  it  is  customary  on  occasions  like 
this,  to  speak  of  the  touching  scenes  of  death,  and  to  offer  con- 
solation to  the  bereaved  survivors — and  yet,  sir,  I  can  not  do  it. 
These  subjects  seem  to  me  too  sacred  to  be  approached  by  one 
who,  like  myself,  is  habitually  engaged  in  the  affairs  of  life,  and 
not  in  the  contemplation  of  death ;  in  the  strifes  of  the  world,  and 
not  in  the  peaceful  offices  of  religion.  I  will  say,  therefore,  of 
the  manner  of  the  death  of  my  late  colleague,  only  this :  That  it 
showed  that  he  had  acquired  the  fortitude  which  enabled  him  to 
pay,  as  became  a  Christian,  the  debt  which,  in  common  with  us 
all,  he  owed  to  nature. 

Of  condolence  with  that  weeping  wife,  on  whom  the  care  of 
*m>  orphaned  children  is  now  exclusively  devolved,  and  with  that 
mother  who  has  leaned  on  his  supporting  arm  until  she  has 
passed  her  eightieth  year  with  gladness,  ever  increasing  with  its 
increasing  strength,  I  could  speak  only  such  words  as  human 


622  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE 

reason  would  suggest.  I  know  full  well  that  the  light  which 
reason  throws  into  the  darkness  of  souls  oppressed  by  such  griefs 
as  theirs,  is  only  as  the  borrowed  light  of  the  moon  and  stars. 
They  know  better  than  I  could  tell  them,  how  to  look  further 
and  higher  for  a  purer  and  holier  illumination. 

Mr.  President,  what  belonged  to  others  to  do — all  that  they 
could  do  on  this  sad  occasion — has  been  done.  The  bereaved 
partner  of  the  deceased  has  closed  his  eyes  with  her  own  gentle 
hands,  and  ministering  friends,  with  scarcely  less  of  tenderness, 
have  invested  his  perishing  form  with  such  habiliments  as  befit 
the  grave.  His  colleagues  from  New  York,  all  of  them,  from 
Manhattan  island,  with  its  towers  and  temples  lost  behind  the 
masts  of  domestic  and  foreign  commerce,  to  Niagara,  screening 
his  majesty  in  primeval  forests,  have  attended  that  sad  mourner 
and  the  precious  burden  she  conveys  to  the  place  of  departure 
from  the  capital.  And  this  morning,  before  the  sun  had  risen, 
accompanied  by  as  many  of  those  colleagues  as  could  be  spared 
from  public  service  here,  the  procession  was  already  on  its  way 
to  the  desolated  mansion  of  the  deceased,  where  sorrowing  kins- 
men and  life-long  friends  will  be  in  waiting  to  receive  tho»e 
precious  remains  and  consign  them  to  their  final  rest. 

The  house  of  representatives  has  paid  an  unaffected  tribute  of 
panegyric  to  his  memory.  All  that  remains  for  us  to  do,  all  that 
we  can  do  here,  is  to  respond  to  that  tribute,  as  I  know  we  shall 
do  with  the  sincerity  of  sorrow  and  of  sympathy,  and  then  to 
show,  not  only  our  respect  for  the  deceased,  but  also  our  rever- 
ence for  the  great  Power  who  hath  thus  suddenly  called  him 
away  from  among  us  into  the  Divine  presence,  by  abstaining  for 
a  day  from  the  cares  and  the  thoughts  of  this  world,  and  devoting 
that  brief  period  to  meditations  befitting  those  who  have  be«n 
thus  touchingly  admonished  that  they  are  journeying  to  a  wond 
where  death  can  not  enter,  and  where,  to  those  who  have  quali- 
fied themselves  for  a  gracious  reception  there,  by  faith  and 
penitence  for  errors  committed  here,  sorrow  can  never  come. 

I  offer  the  following  resolutions :  — 

Resolved,  That  the  senate  mourns  the  death  of  the  Honorable  Alexander  H.  BueH, 
late  a  member  of  the  house  of  representatives  from  the  state  of  New  York,  uwl  lun-Iiifl 
to  his  relatives  a  sincere  sympathy  in  this  afflicting  bereavement 

Resolved  (as  a  mark  of  respect  for  the  memory  of  the  deceased),  That  the  senate  V 
now  adjourn. 


MEXTCO  ANT)  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  623 


RELATIONS  WITH  MEXICO,  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL 

EAILROAD. 

FEBRUARY,   8,    1853. 

The  following  resolutions,  submitted  by  the  committee  on  foreign  relations,  were 
under  consideration : — 

" Resolved  (as  the  judgment  of  the  senate),  That  in  the  present  posture  of  the  ques- 
tion on  the  grant  of  a  right  of  way  through  the  territory  of  Mexico,  at  the  isthmus  of 
Tehuantepec,  conceded  by  that  republic  to  one  of  its  citizens,  and  now  the  property 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  as  the  same  is  presented  by  the  correspondence  and 
documents  accompanying  the  message  of  the  president  of  the  United  States  of  the  27th 
July,  1852,  it  is  not  compatible  with  the  dignity  of  this  government  to  prosecute  the 
subject  further  by  negotiation. 

"  2.  Should  the  government  of  Mexico  propose  a  renewal  of  such  negotiation,  it  should 
be  acceded  to  only  upon  distinct  propositions  from  Mexico,  not  inconsistent  with  the 
demands  made  by  this  government  in  reference  to  said  grant. 

"  3.  That  the  government  of  the  United  States  stands  committed  to  all  its  citizens  to 
protect  them  in  their  rights,  abroad  as  well  as  at  home,  within  the  sphere  of  its  juris- 
diction ;  and  should  Mexico,  within  a  reasonable  time,  fail  to  reconsider  her  position 
concerning  said  grant,  it  will  then  become  the  duty  of  this  government  to  review  all 
existing  relations  with  that  republic,  and  to  adopt  such  measures  as  will  preserve  the 
honor  of  the  country  and  the  rights  of  its  citizens." 

Mr.  President:  History  will  elucidate  this  subject,  if  we  can 
adjust  the  lens  so  as  to  concentrate  its  rays.  The  great  occupa- 
tion of  the  nations  of  western  Europe,  from  the  beginning  of  the 
fifteenth  century  till  near  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
was  colonization,  and  the  establishment  of  empire  on  the  Ameri- 
can continent.  The  year  1775  witnessed  the  opening  of  the  first 
act  in  the  great  drama  of  the  decolonization  of  this  continent,  the 
end  of  which  is  not  yet.  By  the  treaties  of  1783,  to  which  not 
only  the  revolting  and  belligerent  colonies  of  Great  Britain  and 
Great  Britain  herself,  but  also  France  and  Spain,  were  parties, 
Great  Britain,  who  was  the  most  able  to  keep  her  American  pos- 
sessions, resigned  thirteen  of  her  principal  colonies  on  this  conti- 
nent, not  so  much  because  of  her  weakness,  as  because  of  their 
own  already  maturing  strength,  and  the  aid  which  they  derived 
trom  the  intervention  of  France. 


624  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

Leaving  out  of  view  some  sparse  and  unimportant  settlements 
of  Russia,  the  North  American  continent  was  now  divided  be- 
tween Great  Britain,  which  retained  all  the  regions  that  lay  be- 
tween the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  North  Pole ;  the  United  States, 
which  reached  southwardly  to  the  borders  of  Louisiana  and  Flor- 
ida, and  indefinitely  westward  toward  the  Pacific ;  and  Spain, 
which  retained  the  remainder,  consisting  of  the  provinces  or  col- 
onies of  the  Floridas,  Louisiana,  and  New  Spain,  now  called 
Mexico.  The  United  States  were  then  governed  by  fixed,  domes- 
tic, constitutional,  representative  systems  and  habits  of  govern- 
ment. They  had  long  been  in  the  enjoyment  of  them,  although 
not  of  political  independence ;  and  the  government  they  thus 
enjoyed  rested  upon  the  foundations  of  popular  education,  free- 
dom of  the  press,  toleration  of  conscience,  and,  above  all,  upon 
the  sacredness  of  personal  rights,  secured  by  common  law  and 
statutory  safeguard,  borrowed  from  England,  of  the  rights  of 
trial  by  jury,  and  habeas  corpus. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Spanish  provinces  had  been  governed 
from  the  first  by  a  foreign  despotic  power.  The  subjects  of  those 
provinces  were  ignorant  of  any  system  or  principle  of  represent- 
ative legislation,  or  of  freedom  of  the  press,  or  of  toleration  of 
religion,  or  of  guaranties  of  personal  liberty.  The  United  States 
had  no  elements  of  wealth,  except  a  soil  of  varied  fertility,  the 
more  common  and  useful  minerals,  and  access,  on  one  side,  to 
the  sea.  The  Spanish  provinces,  on  the  other  hand,  had  a  more 
prolific  soil,  in  a  climate  of  surpassing  healthfulness  and  beauty, 
with  rich  mines  of  the  precious  metals  which  Providence  has  so 
sparingly  distributed,  and  access  to  two  oceans.  The  United 
States  were  practically  a  homogeneous  people,  consisting  of 
homogeneous  states.  The  Spanish  provinces  had  a  population 
three  fourths  of  which  were  native  Indians,  one  eighth  Creole, 
and  only  the  remaining  eighth  Europeans. 

The  experiment  of  independence  and  self-government  in  the 
United  States  was  completely  successful ;  and  with  it  came  imme- 
diately a  rapid  progress  in  national  wealth  and  prosperity,  attend- 
ed by  an  increase  in  the  advance  of  population  unknown  in  the 
experience  of  mankind  —  a  tide  formed  of  natural  increase,  and 
perpetually  swelled  by  European  immigration.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  provinces  of  Spain  remained  nearly  stationary.  They 
caught  from  the  United  States  the  passion  for  liberty,  without, 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL   RAILROAD.  625 

however,  obtaining  the  elements  by  which  it  could  be  preserved. 
They  proposed  to  secure  for  themselves  the  institutions  of  civil 
liberty  ;  but  they  borrowed  the  form  only,  while  the  spirit  which 
gave  it  life  refused  to  attend  it. 

These  were  the  relations,  and  these  the  conditions  of  the  United 
States  and  of  Spanish  North  America,  at  the  commencement  of 
this  century.  This  century  has  thus  far  exhibited  two  political 
processes,  continually  going  on  upon  this  continent.  The  first, 
that  of  general  decolonization ;  and  the  second,  that  of  a  decay 
of  Spanish  American  power,  and  the  aggrandizement  of  the 
United  States  of  America.  Spain  ceded  Louisiana  to  France 
in  1800,  and  in  1803  France  conveyed  it  to  the  United  States. 
Apprehensions  were  felt  at  that  early  day,  in  New  Spain,  that 
the  United  States  might  advance  so  as  to  encroach  upon  that  ter- 
ritory ;  and  those  apprehensions  were  fearfully  confirmed  when 
the  United  States,  having  first  taken  possession  of  portions  of  the 
provinces  of  Florida,  obtained,  in  1819,  a  relinquishment  of  them 
by  Spain.  Texas  was,  for  a  time,  uninhabited,  and  seemed  to 
promise  that  it  would  remain  a  barrier  for  New  Spain,  or  Mexi- 
co, against  the  United  States.  Becoming  rapidly  peopled,  never- 
theless, Texas  asserted  its  independence ;  and  then  the  hopes  of 
Mexico,  for  its  own  security  and  safety,  rested  upon  the  chance 
that  Texas  might  remain  an  independent  power,  or  put  itself 
under  the  sovereignty  of  some  European  state,  which  would  pre- 
vent its  annexation  to  the  United  States.  But  these  expectations- 
signally  failed  ;  and,  in  1845,  Texas  came  into  the  United  States, 
with  possessions  then  understood  by  most  of  us  to  reach  only  to- 
the  river  Nueces.  The  war  with  Mexico,  which  grew  chiefly  out 
of m that  annexation,  and  out  of  the  attending  border  question,  re- 
sulted, as  we  all  know,  in  the  direct  dismemberment  of  Mexico,. 
and  the  annexation  to  the  United  States  of  what  remained  to 
Mexico  of  the  state  of  Texas,  together  with  the  states  of  -New 
Mexico  and  Upper  California,  by  which  the  United  States  ad- 
vanced to  the  bank  of  the  Rio  Grande,  and  across  the  continent 
to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  ocean. 

We  have  thus  seen  tb^  afifrjftn  nf  rms  gr^at.  A  merican  idea  upon 
Mexico ;  that  was  the  idea  of  national  aggrandizement.^  But,  at 
"life  same  time,  another  great  American  idea  was  operating  indi- 
rectly lor  the  embarrassment  of  Mexico ;  and  that  wasthe  idea 
ofjeivilliBgLy,  guarantied  by  institutions^oi^ederS'  r^ublican 
olTiK^40 


626  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

government.  The  United  States,  from  the  first,  or  from  an  early 
day,  determined  that  there  should  be  no  European  colonial  power 
remaining  on  this  continent  which  they  could  prevent  or  remove, 
and  therefore  they  fostered  a  spirit  of  revolt  in  Mexico  ;  and  when 
Mexico,  in  her  revolution,  or  after  her  revolution  of  1821,  arrived 
at  the  point  where  she  must  definitely  choose  her  form  of  govern- 
ment, the  United  States  recommended  to  her,  with  success,  the 
principles  of  federal  republicanism,  which  were  adopted.  The 
short-lived  empire  of  Iturbide  was  abolished,  and,  in  1824,  Mexi- 
co adopted  a  constitution,  which,  in  its  most  important  character- 
istics, is  identical  with  our  own.  During  the  twenty-nine  years 
which  have  since  elapsed,  Mexico  has  had  no  repose.  She  has 
been  rent  often  and  in  every  part  by  the  struggle  between  the 
North  American  principle  of  federalism,  and  its  antagonist,  the 
European  principle  of  centralism.  The  people  will  bear  no  gov- 
vernment  but  a  federal  one.  Some  wise  men  in  Mexico  have 
continually  maintained  that  no  other  government  than  a  central 
one  can  be  upheld  there.  The  army  has  decided  the  contests,  as 
bribery  or  caprice  has  swayed  its  chiefs.  The  history  of  Mexico, 
since  1824,  is  only  a  history  of  the  contest  between  these  organic 
principles.  The  central  principle  has  partially  prevailed,  for 
periods  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to  eleven  years;  while  the 
federal  republican  principle,  and  the  constitution  of  1824,  have 
prevailed  during  the  remaining  nineteen  years.  The  war  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexico  ended,  as  you  remember,  with  the 
treaty  of  peace  commonly  called  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hi- 
dalgo. 

I  invite  now  the  attention  of  the  senate  to  two  provisions  con- 
tained in  that  treaty.  In  the  fifth  article  is  the  following  pro- 
I  vision : — 

"  The  boundary  line  established  by  this  article  shall  be  religiously  respected  by  each 
of  the  two  republics ;  and  no  change  shall  ever  be  made  therein,  except  by  the  ex- 
press and  free  consent  of  both  nations,  lawfully  given  by  the  general  government  of 
each,  in  conformity  with  its  own  constitution." 

The  twenty -first  is  in  the  following  words,  to  wit : — 

"  If  unhappily  any  disagreement  should  hereafter  arise  between  the  governments  of 
the  two  republics,  whether  with  respect  to  the  interpretation  of  any  stipulation  in 
this  treaty,  or  with  respect  to  any  other  particular  concerning  the  political  or  com- 
mercial relations  of  the  two  nations,  the  said  governments,  in  the  name  of  those  nations, 
do  promise  to  each  other  that  they  will  endeavor,  in  the  most  sincere  and  earnest 
manner,  to  settle  the  differences  so  arising,  and  to  preserve  the  state  of  peace  and 
friendship  in  which  the  two  countries  are  now  placing  themselves,  using,  for  this  end, 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  EAILROAD.        627 

mutual  representations  and  pacific  negotiations.  And  if,  by  these  means,  they  should 
not  be  enabled  to  come  to  an  agreement,  a  resort  shall  not,  on  this  account,  be  had  to 
reprisals,  aggression,  or  hostility  of  any  kind,  by  the  one  republic  against  the  other, 
until  the  government  of  that  which  deems  itself  aggrieved  shall  have  maturely  consid- 
ered, in  the  spirit  of  peace  and  good  neighborship,  whether  it  would  not  be  better  that 
such  difference  should  be  settled  by  the  arbitration  of  commissioners«appointed  on  each 
side,  or  by  that  of  a  friendly  nation.  And  should  such  course  be  proposed  by  either 
party,  it  shall  be  acceded  to  by  the  other,  unless  deemed  by  it  altogether  incompatible 
with  the  nature  of  the  difference  or  the  circumstances  of  the  case." 

In  1842,  before  the  war  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico  oc- 
curred, General  Santa  Anna,  a  brave,  talented,  and  energetic  sol- 
dier, who  has,  during  his  long  and  active  political  career,  sometimes 
given  a  compelled  assent  to  the  federal  principle,  but  who  seems, 
nevertheless,  to  have  been  all  the  time  a  centralist  at  heart,  had 
attained  the  provisional  executive  power.  During  his  admin- 
istration, Don  Jose  Garay,  a  citizen  of  Mexico,  and  a  favorite  of 
the  dictator — for  all  dictators  have  their  favorites,  and  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  Santa  Anna  is  not  the  most  pure  of  that  class 
of  magistrates — Don  Jose  Garay,  and  other  members  of  his 
family,  obtained  from  Santa  Anna,  besides  the  monopoly  of 
opening  the  passage  across  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  four 
other  monopolies — *one,  the  exclusive  right  to  navigate  with 
steam  the  Rio  Grande ;  a  second,  the  exclusive  right  to  navigate 
tlie  river  Panuco  ;  a  third,  the  exclusive  right  so  to  navigate  the 
river  Muscala  or  Zacatula ;  a  fourth,  the  exclusive  right  of  con- 
necting Yera  Cruz  by  railway  with  the  city  of  Mexico ;  connect- 
ed with  a  fifth,  an  averia  or  assessment  upon  the  customs  of  the 
port  of  Yera  Cruz.  I  am  informed  that  the  products  of  that 
averia  have  exceeded  one  million  dollars.  With  that  vast  sum 
of  money  a  railroad  has  been  made  from  Yera  Cruz  toward  the 
capital  of  Mexico  to  the  length  of  thirteen  miles  and  no  more, 
within  a  period  of  ten  years. 

It  was  on  the  1st  of  March,  1842,  that  Don  Jose  Garay  ap- 
proached the  dictator  with  a  precious  offering  of  the  incense  of 
flattery.  He  reminded  Santa  Anna  that  he  had  caused  the  Mex- 
ican people  to  look  to  his  administration  as  one  of  a  new  and 
gigantic  advancement  in  the  career  of  national  aggrandizement. 
He  suggested  to  him  that  the  great  project  with  which  the  world 
had  been  engaged  for  near  three  centuries,  of  opening  an  inter- 
oceanic  communication  across  the  continent,  was  yet  to  be  under- 
taken, and  declaring  that  the  mind  was  bewildered  with  the 
difficulty  of  embracing  in  one  comprehensive  view  the  astonish- 


628  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

ing  consequences  that  must  follow  so  great  an  achievement,  he 
concluded  that  a  great  revolution  would  take  place  in  the  com- 
mercial, and  even  in  the  political  affairs  of  all  nations,  when  it 
should  be  effected  ;  and  that  the  epoch  which  should  see  it  effected 
would  be  more  memorable  than  that  of  the  discovery  of  the  con- 
tinent, and  the  name  of  him  under  whose  auspices  it  should  be 
consummated  would  be  at  least  as  glorious  as  that  of  Columbus. 
And  then  Don  Jose  Garay  proposed,  of  course,  that  he  should  be 
authorized  to  undertake  this  grand  work.  The  execution  of  the 
work  was  committed  by  Santa  Anna  to  his  favorite,  with  vast 
concessions  of  land  and  privileges,  by  a  contract  made  under  the 
decree  of  the  date  which  I  have  mentioned.  It  is  claimed  by  the 
committee  on  foreign  relations  that  that  contract,  after  having 
passed  through  the  hands  of  intermediate  British  assignees,  has- 
come  now  to  be  vested  in  the  hands  of  American  citizens,  and 
that  it  is  still  in  force ;  while  the  Mexican  government  refuses  to 
allow  it  to  be  executed  by  them.  The  assignees  have  appealed 
to  this  government  to  put  forth  its  power,  to  enforce  upon  the 
Mexican  government  the  duty  of  carrying  it  into  effect.  The 
committee,  in  this  view  of  the  case,  have  submitted  the  resolu- 
tions which  have  been  read. 

My  first  remark  upon  these  resolutions  is,  that  the  responsi- 
bility of  adopting  them  is  a  very  great  one.  They  are  some- 
what vague  in  their  language.  But,  inasmuch  as  they  pronounce 
that  there  shall  be  an  end  to  pacific  negotiations,  except  upon  a 
condition  which  it  is  not  expected  Mexico  will  assent  to,  a  review 
of  existing  relations  in  the  event  of  her  expected  refusal,  and 
finally  that  such  measures  shall  be  adopted  as  the  dignity  of  the 
country  and  the  interests  of  our  citizens  shall  require,  they  look 
toward,  although  they  do  not  distinctly  point  at,  some  measure 
of  hostility,  of  reprisal,  or  of  war.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  sen- 
ate is  not  now  in  a  proper  condition  to  assume  that  responsibility. 
One  third  of  this  body  will  go  out  in  less  than  thirty  days  from 
this  time,  and  their  places  will  be  filled  by  those  who  are  not 
now  here.  A  resolution  adopted  when  the  senate  is  changing, 
may  convey  advice  which  will  not  remain  the  opinion  of  the  sen- 
ate through  the  next  Congress.  Again,  the  president  of  the 
United  States  is  a  co-ordinate  power  with  the  senate  in  the  con- 
duct of  foreign  relations.  He  has  the  responsibility  divided  with 
us ;  and  we  are  not  now  in  a  condition  to  have  the  benefit  of  his 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  629 

advice,  and  to  give  to  the  country  the  benefit  of  his  share  of  the 
responsibility  which  is  to  be  assumed:  for  the  present  president 
will  go  out  in  less  than  thirty  days,  and  within  that  time  a  new 
one  will  come  in,  whose  opinions  are  quite  unknown. 

It  would  be  discourteous  to  the  incoming  chief-magistrate, 
under  such  circumstances,  to  conclude  ourselves  by  an  action 
like  this.  This  discourtesy  by  itself  would  be  a  matter  of  small 
moment;  but,  in  all  national  transactions,  discourtesy  between 
co-ordinate  branches  of  the  government  is  liable  to  result  in  per- 
manent differences  of  opinion,  in  controversies;  and  by  such 
controversies,  in  this  case,  we  should  embarrass  the  incoming 
administration.  It  is  quite  apparent  that  the  probability  of 
adopting  any  right  and  effective  measure  would  be  diminished  by 
a  disagreement  between  the  president  and  the  senate.  These 
objections  would  seem  to  me  to  be  conclusive  for  the  postpone- 
ment of  these  questions,  unless  those  who  press  their  considera- 
tion now  can  guaranty  that  the  course  which  they  recommend 
will  receive  the  approbation  of  the  incoming  president.  If  they 
are  able  to  give  us  such  a  guaranty,  and  will  produce  the 
evidence  of  it,  this  objection  will  be  removed. 

But,  Mr.  President,  if  it  be  the  pleasure  of  the  senate  to  pro- 
ceed in  the  consideration  of  these  questions,  then  I  have  to 
examine  their  merits  as  briefly  as  1  can.  In  the  first  place,  I  ask 
the  senate  to  take  notice  that  all  these  resolutions  assume  —  but 
I  admit  not  without  a  fair  show  of  argument — first,  that  the 
American  assignees  of  Don  Jose  Garay  have  a  complete,  perfect, 
and  absolute  title  to  the  right  to  open  a  communication  across 
the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec ;  and,  secondly,  that  Mexico  unrea- 
sonably and  unjustly  refuses  to  permit  them  to  do  so,  according 
to  the  terms  of  the  grant  which  they  exhibit. 

My  first  answer  to  these  assumptions  is,  that  the  contract  under 
which  this  title  is  claimed,  and  upon  which  it  is  founded,  expired 
by  its  own  limitation  eighteen  months  after  the  grant  was  made. 
The  senate  will  please  take  notice  that  this  grant  was  made  by 
General  Santa  Anna  on  the  first  day  of  March,  1842 ;  that  the 
surveys  were  to  be  made  by  Garay  within  eighteen  months  ;  and 
that  the  work  was  to  be  actually  commenced  within  twenty-eight 
months,  which  would  expire  on  the  first  day  of  September,  1844. 
So  the  period  of  limitation  has  arrived  and  passed,  it  being  ad- 
mitted on  all  hands  that  that  limitation  was  a  condition  of  the 


630  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

grant.  The  contract  then  is  void,  unless  it  has  been  shown  by 
the  committee  on  foreign  relations  that  it  has  since  been  renewed 
or  extended.  The  committee  say  it  has  been  extended,  and  they 
produce  a  decree  of  General  Santa  Anna  of  the  28th  December, 
1843,  by  which  it  was  extended  to  the  first  of  July,  1845.  Well, 
the  extension  is  at  an  end,  for  that  day  also  has  passed.  So  the 
contract  then  ceased,  unless  it  has  been  still  further  extended. 
The  committee  say  that  it  has  been  further  extended  by  a  decree 
of  Salas,  the  provisional  president  of  Mexico,  dated  fifth  Novem- 
ber, 1846,  by  which  the  time  for  commencing  the  work  was  pro- 
longed to  the  fifth  of  November,  1848,  within  which  time  the 
committee  say  the  title  vested  in  the  American  assignees,  and 
the  work  was  actually  commenced.  Now,  it  will  be  seen,  in  the 
first  place,  that  the  commencement  of  the  work  before  the  5th 
of  November,  1848,  was  indispensable  to  the  continuance  of  the 
contract,  even  on  the  assumption  of  the  committee.  The  com- 
mittee say  that  the  work  was  begun  within  that  time.  I  have 
not  been  able  to  find  proof  that  it  was  begun,  in  the  papers 
which  have  been  sent  to  us  by  the  president.  Indeed  I  think  it 
quite  clear,  from  all  the  papers  submitted  to  us,  that  even  the 
preliminary  surveys,  which  were  to  be  made  within  a  period  of 
eighteen,  months  from  the  date  of  the  grant,  were  never  actually 
made.  But,  however  this  may  be,  on  the  22d  of  May,  1851,  near 
three  years  after  the  decree  of  Salas  prolonging  the  contract, 
the  constitutional  congress  of  Mexico  enacted  a  decree  in  these 
words :  — 

"The  decree  of  November  5,  1846  [the  decree  of  extension  by  Salas]  is  declared  null 
and  void,  because  the  powers  with  which  the  provisional  government  of  that  period 
was  invested  were  insufficient  to  authorize  it.  Accordingly  the  government  will  see 
that  this  declaration  is  rendered  in  every  respect  effective  in  regard  to  the  privilege 
granted  to  Don  Jose  de  Garay." 

Here,  then,  is  a  grant  made  on  the  1st  day  of  March,  1842,  by 
the  provisional  president  of  Mexico,  and  here  is  a  law  of  the  con- 
gress of  Mexico,  passed  on  the  22d  of  May,  1851,  abrogating  the 
grant.  The  grant,  then,  has  been  abrogated  and  is  void,  unless 
the  contrary  can  be  shown.  The  committee  on  foreign  relations 
have  undertaken  to  show  the  contrary  ;  and  they  took  three  posi- 
tions :  first,  that  the  congress  of  Mexico  had  no  power  to  repeal 
the  decree  of  Salas ;  second,  that  Salas  was  the  government  de 
facto  of  Mexico,  and  that  his  acts,  as  such,  bound  that  nation, 
especially  when  an  interest  had  become  vested  in  a  foreigner. 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  631 

The  third  is,  that  Mexico  has,  since  the  decree  of  Salas,  recog- 
nised the  existence  and  the  validity  of  the  grant,  notwithstanding 
the  congressional  decree  of  repeal.  I  shall  briefly  notice  these 
replies  in  their  order.  The  first  position  of  the  committee  is,  that 
the  congress  of  Mexico  had  no  power  to  repeal  the  decree  of 
Salas.  By  the  constitution  of  Mexico,  the  federal  constitution 
of  1824,  if  in  force  at  the  time,  not  only  had  congress*  power  to 
repeal  the  grant,  but  no  power  but  congress  had  authority  to 
make  any  such  grant.  I  refer  the  senate  to  the  fifth  section  of 
the  constitution  of  Mexico,  which  constitution  is  here :  — 

"  Sec.  4,  art.  47.  Every  resolution  of  congress  shall  have  the  character  of  a  law  or 
decree." 

11  Art.  49.  The  laws  and  decrees  shall  be  for  supporting  the  national  independence, 
the  union  of  the  states,  and  peace  and  order;  to  maintain  the  independence  of  the  states; 
to  secure  an  equal  proportionment  in  the  assessment  of  taxes. 

"Art.  50.  The  exclusive  powers  of  congress  shall  be  the  following:       *      *      *      " 

"Part.  2.  To  augment  the  general  prosperity,  by  decreeing  the  opening  of  roads 
and  canals,  and  their  improvement,  without  preventing  the  states  from  opening  or 
improving  their  own;  establishing  posts  and  mails;  and  securing  for  a  limited  time  to 
inventors,  improvers,  or  those  who  introduce  any  branch  of  industry,  exclusive  rights 
to  their  respective  inventions,  improvements,  or  introductions." 

This  is  the  constitution  of  Mexico,  and  the  exclusive  power  to 
make  such  a  grant  upon  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  was  reposed 
in  congress,  and  was  never  in  the  president,  according  to  that 
constitution.  But,  wThat  is  more,  the  power  of  congress  was  lim- 
ited. Congress,  while  it  had  an  exclusive  power  to  make  canals 
and  railroads  without  interfering  with  the  states,  had  no  power 
to  open  the  isthmus  so  as  to  interfere  with  the  rights  of  the 
states  of  Yera  Cruz  and  Oaxaca,  which  occupied  it.  The  pro- 
visional president,  Santa  Anna,  who  had  come  into  power  in  an 
interregnum  of  the  constitution  of  1824,  under  certain  conven- 
tions called  the  conventions  of  Estanzuela,  and  certain  bases 
called  the  bases  of  Tacubaya,  modified  and  adopted  by  those 
conventions,  had,  in  1842,  given  to  his  favorite  a  grant,  which, 
for  want  of  compliance  by  the  grantee  with  its  conditions,  had 
expired  and  was  void. 

In  1846,  the  government  established  by  Paredes,  and  adminis- 
tered by  Bravo,  was  in  power.  A  revolutionary  movement, 
distinguished  as  the  revolution  of  the  citadel,  deposed  Bravo  and 
recalled  Santa  Anna,  then  in  exile,  and  ad  interim  advanced  Salas, 
a  brigadier-general,  to  the  supreme  executive  power.  He  came 
into  that  office  on  the  fourth  of  August,  1846,  and  limited  his  own 
powers  by  the  terms  of  the  plan  of  the  citadel,  and  proclaimed 


632  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE 

the  re-establishment  of  the  constitution  of  1824.  Here  is  the 
decree  of  Salas,  which  I  have  translated  and  copied  from  the 
book  of  the  decrees  of  the  Mexican  republic,  which  lies  before 
me:  — 

"Ministry  of  Foreign  Relations  of  Government  and  Police. 

"His  excellency,  the  sefior  general-in-chief,  in  the  exercise  of  the  supreme  executive 
power,  has  directed  to  me  the  following  decree : — 

"Jose  Mariano  de  Salas,  general  of  brigade,  and  chief  of  the  liberating  republican 
army,  in  the  exercise  of  the  supreme  executive  power,  to  all  whom  these  presents  may 
<some:  Know  ye,  that  in  consideration  of  the  state  in  which  the  republic  is  now  found, 
he  has  been  moved  to  decree  the  following: — 

"Art.  1.  Until  the  new  constitution  is  published,  that  of  1824  shall  govern  in  all 
that  is  not  in  conflict  with  the  execution  of  the  plan  proclaimed  in  the  citadel  of  this 
capital  on  the  4th  of  the  present  month,  and  that  the  present  state  of  affairs  of  the 
republic  will  permit." 

Thus  Salas  was  in  power,  acknowledging  the  constitution  of 
1824,  and  self-bound  to  support  it,  when,  on  the  fifth  of  Novem- 
ber, 1846,  he  made  a  decree,  extending  an  already  expired  grant, 
which  was  equivalent  to  making  the  grant  itself,  which  grant 
was  in  direct  conflict  with  the  constitution.  He  exercised  no 
absolute  power,  but  a  qualified  dictatorial  power,  which  was 
limited  by  the  constitution,  and  by  the  bases  of  what  was  called 
the  act  of  the  citadel. 

We  have,  then,  the  decree  of  Salas,  provisional  president, 
extending  this  contract  for  two  years ;  and  we  have,  in  the  first 
place,  the  constitution  of  Mexico,  declaring  it  void.  Here  is  one 
ground  upon  which  the  constitutional  congress,  on  the  22d  May, 
1851,  abrogated  the  decree  of  Salas. 

It-  is  now  necessary  to  go  back  in  the  history,  to  bring  into 
review  another  ground.  Santa  Anna,  in  1842,  was  president 
under  the  bases  of  Tacubaya,  and  the  conventions  of  Estanzuela. 
By  the  sixth  basis  of  Tacubaya,  all  the  decrees  to  be  made  by  the 
president  were  directed  to  be  submitted  to  the  first  congress 
(a  central  constitutional  congress)  that  they  might  be  approved 
or  rescinded.  The  grant  to  Garay  was  made  of  course  subject  to 
that  basis.  So  also  was  the  other  extension  which  was  made 
previously  to  the  one  granted  by  Salas,  in  his  decree  of  the  5th 
of  November,  1846.  Santa  Anna  never  submitted  the  decree  of 
March  1,  1842  (by  which  the  original,  grant  was  made),  to  con- 
gress, and  so  that  grant  was  held  for  that  reason  to  be  void  by 
the  congress,  which  abrogated  it  on  the  22d  of  May,  1851. 

It  will  be  said  that  Santa  Anna  had  abrogated  that  sixth  basis 
of  Tacubaya.     The  facts  are,  that  on  the  3d  of  October,  1843, 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  633 

Santa  Anna  issued  a  decree  to  the  effect  that  the  responsibility 
of  the  acts  of  the  provisional  executive  to  congress,  created  by 
the  bases  of  Tacubaya,  and  the  conventions  of  Estanzuela,  was 
merely  a  responsibility  of  opinion,  that  none  of  his  acts  could  be 
annulled,  and  that  the  contracts  entered  into  by  the  provisional 
executive  were  inviolate. 

It  will  be  seen  that  even  this  decree  recognises  the  bases  of 
Tacubaya,  because  it  treats  of  the  responsibility  of  the  executive, 
which  was  established  by  the  bases  of  Tacubaya.  Then  this 
decree  of  Santa  Anna  was  not  a  subversion  of  the  central  con- 
stitution, and  sixth  basis  of  Tacubaya,  but  only  a  palpable  per- 
version of  them,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  his  own  adminis- 
trative power.  Did  that  stand  ?  Was  that  left  the  law  of 
Mexico  ?  JSTo.  On  the  first  day  of  April,  1845,  the  first  central 
constitutional  congress  of  Mexico  was  in  session  ;  and  this  decree 
of  Santa  Anna,  absolving  the  executive  from  responsibility  to 
congress,  came  under  review,  and  they,  on  that  day,  adopted  an 
act  revising  and  abrogating  this-  decree  of  Santa  Anna,  and 
declared  that  his  responsibility  was  a  direct  one,  that  no  act  of 
the  executive  was  valid  unless  it  was  submitted  to  congress,  and 
that  no  act  was  valid  that  was  submitted  to  them  and  rejected, 
or  not  approved  by  them.  So,  then,  the  central  constitution  was 
in  force  on  the  first  of  April,  1845,  and  the  executive  power  was 
limited  to  the  making  of  contracts,  subject  to  approval  by  con- 
gress ;  and  the  original  grant  to  Garay  was,  by  virtue  of  the 
bases  of  Tacubaya  and  this  constitution,  rendered  void,  by  reason 
that  it  was  not  submitted  to  congress,  and  approved  by  them. 

I  am  aware  that  this  examination  has  led  us  through  a  tempes- 
tuous season,  in  which  civil  government  was  often  overborne  in 
that  unhappy  fraternal  republic.  But  I  have  shown,  that  during 
the  time  of  the  extension  of  this  grant  by  Salas,  the  legislative 
power  was  in  force,  and  that  in  that  respect  the  constitution  was 
in  absolute  effect.  I  ask  the  senate  now  to  consider  two  proposi- 
tions. First,  that  every  citizen  and  every  foreigner  knew,  or 
ought  to  have  known,  of  the  limitations  of  this  grant,  when 
taking  an  assignment  of  it,  and  that  he  knew  he  took  it  at  what- 
ever hazards  attached  to  it  by  virtue  of  the  constitution  and  the 
reserved  power  of  congress ;  and  the  second,  that  the  constitu- 
tional government  of  the  United  States,  and  especially  the  senate 
of  the  United  States,  is  bound  to  make,  and  will  make,  every 


634  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE 

fair,  and  just,  and  liberal  intendment  in  favor  of  the  wounded 
constitution  of  a  people  who  have  struggled  with  so  much  fidelity 
and  so  much  energy,  through  seasons  of  anarchy  at  home,  and 
of  aggression  by  a  foreign  power,  to  preserve  a  constitution 
modeled  and  copied  after  our  own.  It  is  not  here  that  I  expect 
to  see  intendments  prevail  in  favor  of  dictators,  and  usurpers, 
even  in  Mexico. 

The  honorable  and  distinguished  chairman  of  the  committee  on 
foreign  relations  (Mr.  Mason)  has  already  furnished  his  replies  to 
this  argument.  First,  he  says  that  the  constitution  of  1824  con- 
tained a  provision  that  the  congress  should  have  no  power  to 
pass  an  ex-post-facto  law,  and  that  congress  should  have  no 
power  to  pass  a  law  impairing  the  obligations  of  contracts.  I 
rejoin :  a  law  of  congress  refusing  consent,  which  it  was  stipu- 
lated that  congress  might  give  or  withhold,  is  not  an  ex-post-facto 
law.  A  contract  which,  by  its  terms  is  not  valid,  if  congress 
shall  disapprove,  is  not  impaired  by  the  decree  of  congress  refu- 
sing to  approve  it.  Secondly,  the  chairman  replies  that  Salas, 
nevertheless,  was  the  government  de  facto  of  Mexico,  and  that 
his  acts  bound  the  republic  of  Mexico,  especially  where  foreigners 
had  obtained  an  interest.  I  rejoin,  with  great  respect,  that  Salas 
was  not  an  absolute  president,  nor  even  a  president  at  all ;  but 
he  was  de  facto  the  head  of  the  government,  subject  to  the  con- 
stitution of  1824.  He  obtained  power,  I  confess,  irregularly ;  but 
he  exercised  it  under  the  constitution,  and  was  thus  a  limited 
and  constitutional  executive. 

But  the  committee  on  foreign  relations  make  a  still  further 
reply,  which  is,  that  the  Mexican  government  has,  since  the  6th 
of  November,  1846,  the  date  of  Salas's  decree,  recognised  the 
existence  of  this  grant,  and  the  validity  of  its  assignment  to  the 
American  claimants.  I  shall  examine  with  great  deference  the 
evidence  which  they  give  of  this  recognition.  The  committee 
rest  their  assumption,  first,  upon  the  fact  that,  in  1846  and  1847, 
the  assignment  of  the  grant  to  Manning  &  Mackintosh  was  duly 
notified  to  the  government  of  Mexico,  and  on  their  complaint, 
President  Herrera  issued  orders  to  the  governors  of  Oaxaca  and 
Yera  Cruz,  to  prevent  the  cutting  of  mahogany  on  the  granted 
lands,  by  any  others  than  those  acting  under  their  authority.  I 
rejoin:  the  notice  given  by  Manning  &  Mackintosh  to  the 
government  of  Mexico,  and  relied  upon  by  the  committee  on 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  635 

foreign  relations,  is  not  produced.  It  is  not  here.  No  assign- 
ment has  been  produced,  except  that  made  on  the  26th  of  Julyr 
1847,  which  was  an  assignment  by  Gar  ay  to  the  British  proprie- 
tors, Manning  &  Mackintosh^  and  Snyder  &  Co.,  and  which 
notice  was  given  to  the  Mexican  government  after  the  decree  of 
Salas,  and  was  an  assignment  expressly  limited  to  the  lands- 
ceded  by  the  grant  of  Santa  Anna,  and  it  excluded  the  privilege 
of  opening  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec.  I  rejoin,  secondly :  the 
assignment  was  made  under  the  conditions  annexed  to  the  grant 
of  Salas  ;  and  the  assignees  took  the  benefit  of  the  acceptance  of 
the  notice,  with  an  express  acknowledgment  that  the  right  to 
open  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  remained  in  Garay,  and  had  not 
been  at  all  ceded  to  the  assignees ;  and,  consequently,  whoever 
held  it  after  that  period,  held  it  subject  to  the  condition  prescribed 
in  the  decree  of  Salas — that  foreigners  taking  the  benefit  of  the 
assignment  should  be  denationalized. 

But  what  was  the  effect  of  these  orders  of  Herrera,  the  presi- 
dent of  Mexico,  to  the  governors  of  Oaxaca  and  Yera  Cruz  ? 
They  were  orders  to  prevent  depredations  and  trespasses  on  those 
lands  by  anybody  except  those  who  claimed  to  have  obtained 
them  under  the  grant  ceding  the  lands  to  Garay ;  but  it  appears 
that  the  government  of  Mexico  at  that  time  understood  that  those 
claimants  did  not  claim  the  right  to  open  the  isthmus,  and  only 
asked  protection  for  the  enjoyment  of  their  lands.  That  protec- 
tion and  enjoyment  of  their  lands  has  never  been  denied  by 
Mexico.  But  even  if  this  were  not  conclusive,  there  is  another 
point.  If  the  president  of  Mexico  could  not  make  such  a  grant, 
he  had  no  power  to  make  an  admission,  the  effect  of  which  would 
be  to  establish  the  grant.  If  the  president  of  the  United  States 
should  admit  that  half  the  state  of  Maine,  or  any  part  of  it, 
belonged  to  Great  Britain,  that  admission  would  not  affect  the 
boundary-line  of  Maine  in  the  least. 

The  committee  rest  their  assumption,  secondly,  upon  the  fact  that 

"In  1847,  while  the  treaty  of  peace  was  under  negotiation,  Mr.  Trist,  the  commis- 
sioner on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  by  instruction  from  his  government,  proposed 
a  large  money  consideration  to  Mexico  for  a  right  of  way  across  the  isthmus  of  Tehuan- 
tepec, and  was  answered  'that  Mexico  could  not  treat  on  this  subject,  because  she  had, 
several  years  before,  made  a  grant  to  one  of  her  own  citizens,  who  had  transferred  his 
right,  by  authorization  of  the  Mexican  government,  to  English  subjects,  of  whose  rights 
Mexico  could  not  dispose.' " 

On  this  point  the  Mexican  government  explains,  that  the  grant 
to  which  their  commissioner  alluded,  in  making  this  reply,  was 


€36  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

the  grant  of  Garay,  and  the  assignment  to  Manning,  Mackintosh, 
and  Snyder,  of  which  the  Mexican  government  then  had  notice ; 
which  assignment,  as  I  have  before  shown,  was  an  assignment  of 
the  lands  conceded  with  the  right,  and  not  of  the  right  to  open 
the  isthmus  of  Tehnantepec ;  which  last-mentioned  right,  accord- 
ing to  the  notice  which  had  been  served  upon  them,  expressly 
remained  in  Garay.  This  is  a  sufficient  answer,  until  the  com- 
mittee can  show  that  the  Mexican  government  knew  that  some 
other  assignment  had  before  that  time  been  made,  conveying  the 
privilege,  and  that  notice  of  that  assignment  had  been  received 
by  the  Mexican  government.  But  suppose  the  Mexican  commis- 
sioner did  make  a  statement  which  was  unintentionally,  or  even 
intentionally  erroneous  in  point  of  fact — would  that  statement 
divest  Mexico  of  her  right?  The  law  of  estoppel,  which  prevails 
between  individuals  in  conducting  their  own  affairs,  has  never 
been,  and  never  can  be,  applied  to  the  intercourse  between 
nations  who  are  passive,  and  whose  communications  with  each 
other  are  always  carried  on  by  agents  possessing  such  measure 
of  capacity  and  of  virtue,  as  they  may  happen  to  obtain. 

The  committee  rest  their  assumption,  thirdly,  upon  the  facts  as 
stated  by  them,  that  — 

"After  the  assignment  of  the  grant  to  the  present  American  holders,  the  minister  of 
the  United  States  in  Mexico  was  instructed  by  his  government,  to  apprize  that  of 
Mexico  of  the  desire  of  this  company  to  commence  their  work  by  a  thorough  survey 
of  the  isthmus;  and  the  minister  was  further  instructed  to  make  overtures  for  a  treaty 
securing  to  the  enterprise  the  joint  protection  of  the  two  governments.  The  Mexican 
government,  as  we  learn  from  the  correspondence  of  Mr.  Letcher  with  the  Mexican 
minister  of  foreign  relations,  'made  not  the  slightest  opposition  in  forwarding  pass- 
ports, and  issued  orders  to  the  departments  of  Oaxaca  and  Vera  Cruz,  not  only  to 
avoid  interposing  any  obstacles  in  their  way,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  afford  them  aid 
and  hospitality.'  'The  engineers,'  Mr.  Letcher  adds,  'were  accordingly  sent,  the  ports 
thrown  open  for  their  supplies,  and  more  than  $100,000  have  been  expended  in  sur- 
veys, opening  roads,  <fec,  besides  a  large  sum  of  money  in  furnishing  materials,'  <fec." 

Will  the  senate  look  into  these  papers?  They  will  find  that, 
although  we  have  the  letter  of  John  M.  Clayton,  secretary  of 
state,  of  the  date  of  February  20,  1850,  to  Mr.  Letcher,  our  min- 
ister in  Mexico,  informing  him  that  Mr.  Hargous  had  notified  the 
department  that  he  was  the  representative  of  the  claim  in  this 
country,  and  had  employed  engineers,  whom  he  wished  to  send 
to  Mexico  for  the  purpose  of  making  surveys,  and  requesting  Mr. 
Olayton  to  give  such  instructions,  yet  we  have  not  the  letter  writ- 
ten by  Mr.  Letcher  to  the  Mexican  government,  asking  for  the 
passports  and  instructions ;  and  so  we  have  no  evidence  whatever 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  63T 

of  wliat  communication  was  made,  and  npon  what  communica- 
tion by  Mr.  Letcher  to  the  Mexican  government  it  was  that  the 
passports  and  the  orders  to  the  governors  of  Oaxaca  and  Yera 
Cruz  were  given.  Without  this  knowledge,  unless  the  passports 
which  were  obtained,  and  the  orders  which  were  issued,  recog- 
nised the  validity  of  the  grant,  the  transaction  implied  no  recog- 
nition of  a  right.  I  will  not  trespass  upon  the  senate  by  reading 
these  Spanish  passports.  They  are  like  all  other  passports,  mere 
printed  circular  letters  of  protection,  given  by  a  Mexican  consul 
at  [New  Orleans  to  foreigners  travelling  into  Mexico.  They  are 
such  as  any  American  citizen,  whether  engineer  or  any  other, 
belonging  to  New  Orleans  or  to  New  York,  obtains  from  his  own 
government  whenever  he  sees  fit  to  go  abroad. 

Here  is  the  letter  of  the  Mexican  minster  of  foreign  affairs  to 
Mr.  Letcher,  which  accompanied  a  copy  of  the  orders  issued  to 
the  governors :  — 

Ministry  of  Foreign  Affairs,  ) 

Mexico,  April  5,  1850.  ) 
Esteemed  Sir  :    I  have  the  honor  to  enclose  to  you  a  copy  of  the  order  of  this  day, 
directed  to  his  excellency  the  governor  of  Oaxaca,  for  the  object  which  it  expresses ; 
another  copy  of  the  same  will  be  sent  to  the  commandant-general  of  the  said  state. 

I  hasten  to  give  information  of  the  same ;  repeating  myself  your  attentive  servant, 
who  kisses  your  hand.  J.  M.  LACUNZA. 

His  Excellency  R.  P.  Letcher,  &c,  <fcc. 

And  here  are  the  orders  themselves:  — 

Mr.  Lacunza  to  the  Governor  of  Oaxaca. 

Mexico,  April  5,  1850. 
Most  Excellent  Sir  :  Several  American  engineers  having  been  appointed  for  the- 
purpose  of  examining  the  possibility  of  opening  the  communication  between  the  two 
seas,  by  way  of  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec ;  and  desirous  as  is  his  excellency  the  presi- 
dent, during  their  travels  in  your  state,  that  they  should  meet  with  no  embarrassments, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  be  treated  with  all  hospitality,  he  has  been  pleased  to  direct  that 
his  wishes  should  be  communicated  to  you,  as  I  now  have  the  honor  to  do  officially; 
repeating,  at  the  same  time,  the  assurances  of  my  esteem.  « 

God  and  Liberty  !  LACUNZA. 

His  Excellency  the  Governor  of  the  State  of  Oaxaca. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  letter,  nor  in  the  orders,  which  recog- 
nises the  validity  of  the  G-aray  grant,  or  of  any  title  of  any  as- 
signees under  it.  It  is  utterly  preposterous  to  ground  upon  this 
act  of  courtesy  and  hospitality  by  the  Mexican  minister  of  for- 
eign affairs,  a  recognition  of  the  validity  of  the  grant  to  Garay, 
or  the  assignments  to  those  who  claim  under  him. 

The  committee  rest  their  assumption,  fourthly,  upon  the  facts 
stated  by  them,  as  follows:  — 

"This  is  not  all :  the  government  of  Mexico  at  once  assented  to  enter  into  negotia- 
tions for  the  proposed  treaty;  and  a  convention  for  the  joint  protection  of  the  work 


638  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

thus  to  be  executed  by  American  citizens,  as  assignees  of  the  Garay  grant,  was  con- 
cluded at  Mexico,  in  June,  1850,  and  sent  to  the  United  States.  To  this  convention 
certain  modifications  being  suggested  by  the  secretary  of  state,  at  Washington,  it  was 
returned  to  our  minister  in  Mexico,  and  the  whole  terminated  by  a  new  convention, 
signed  at  Mexico,  on  the  25th  of  January,  1851,  with  the  approval  of  President  Her- 
rera.  This  last  convention  was  ratified  by  the  senate  of  the  United  States,  and  re- 
turned to  Mexico,  and  finally  rejected  by  the  Mexican  congress,  in  April,  1852." 

The  committee  do  not  mean  to  be  understood  —  it  would  be 
discourtesy  to  them,  it  would  be  unfair  to  suppose  they  meant  to 
be  understood  —  that  the  facts  that  the  president  of  Mexico  signed 
one  treaty,  which  was  sent  to  the  United  States  and  rejected  by 
them,  and  then  signed  another  and  sent  it  to  the  United  States, 
and  it  was  accepted  by  them,  and  returned  to  Mexico,  and  re- 
jected by  the  Mexican  Congress,  which  had  power  to  reject  it. 
constituted  a  recognition  of  any  fact  recited  in  either  of  those  in- 
complete treaties.  That  would  be  to  draw  the  recognition  of  the 
validity  of  a  claim  from  an  attempt  to  negotiate  a  settlement  of  it. 
All  pretence  that  Mexico  has  in  any  way  compromised  herself 
by  these  negotiations  will  disappear  from  the  case  when  I  shall 
show  the  history  of  them.  The  first  treaty  was  made  during  the 
time  of  that  good,  just,  and  true  old  man,  Zachary  Taylor,  and 
in  the  time  of  the  administration  of  the  state  department  by  that 
distinguished  and  accomplished  diplomatist  and  just  negotiator, 
John  M.  Clayton.  Here  is  the  first  article  of  the  first  draught 
of  the  treaty  whicli  was  sent  to  Mexico :  — 

"Art.  1.  Individuals  upon  whom  the  Mexican  government  may  have  bestowed  or  may 
bestow  the  privilege  of  constructing  a  road,  railroad,  or  canal,  across  the  isthmus  of 
Tehuantepec,  and  those  employed  by  them,  shall  be  protected  in  their  rights  of  person 
and  property,  from  the  inception  to  the  completion  of  the  work." 

Not  only  is  there  no  recognition  of  the  American  assignees  of 
the  Garay  grant,  and  no  recognition  of  that  grant  itself  in  this 
article,  but  there  is  a  careful  exclusion  of  any  such  statement. 

Here  is  the  fifth  article  of  that  treaty  of  Mr.  Clayton's :  — 

"Art.  5.  In  any  difference  which  may  arise  between  the  undertakers,  cither  the  pres- 
ent or  the  future,  of  the  work,  which  may  involve  the  loss  of  the  right  to  the  privilege, 
the  complaining  party  shall  draw  up  a  statement  of  its  pretensions  and  motives,  and  a 
similar  statement  shall  be  drawn  up  by  the  other  party,  and  both  statements  shall  be 
submitted  to  two  arbiters  who  hold  no  diplomatic  appointment  or  commission,  and 
who  reside  in  the  Mexican  territory.  One  of  these  arbiters  shall  be  appointed  by  the 
holders  of  the  privilege,  and  the  other  by  the  government  of  Mexico ;  and  these  two, 
in  case  of  disagreement,  shall  appoint  a  third,  with  the  qualifications  above  required, 
and  from  the  decision  of  these  arbiters  there  shall  be  no  appeal  or  recourse  whatso- 
ever. Of  all  other  questions  which  may  arise,  the  Mexican  tribunals  shall  take  cog- 
nizance." 

But  then  came  into  power  the  successors  of  General  Taylor 
and  Mr.  Clayton ;  and  then  also  reappeared  Mr.  Peter  A.  Hargous, 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  639 

a  merchant,  claiming  to  be  the  representative  of  this  grant ;  and 
then  it  began  to  appear  that  there  was  a  speculation  behind  this 
great  enterprise,  more  important  to  the  government  of  the  Uni- 
ted States,  and  more  objectionable  to  the  government  of  Mexico, 
than  the  enterprise  itself.  Here  is  precious  evidence  of  it :  On 
the  26th  day  of  August,  1850,  Peter  A.  Hargous  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  secretary  of  state,  in  which,  after  reviewing  the  treaty  of  Mr. 
Clayton,  which  had  then  been  remitted  by  Mexico,  duly  signed 
by  the  ministers  of  the  two  governments,  he  said,  referring  to 
Mr.  Letcher :  — 

"  I  trust,  therefore,  that  you  will  pardon  me  for  suggesting  that  it  might  be  advisa- 
ble that  he  should  be  officially  informed  of  the  movements  above  adverted  to,  and 
instructed  to  lose  no  time  which  can  be  saved  in  bringing  his  negotiation  to  a  speedy 
and  satisfactory  close." 

Mr.  Webster  complied  with  this  request  of  Mr.  Hargous,  and 
made  a  new  draught  of  a  convention,  carefully  recognising  the 
Garay  grant.     Here  is  the  first  article  of  it :  — 

"Art.  1.  The  person  to  whom  the  government  of  Mexico  may  have  granted  or  may 
in  future  grant  the  privileges  for  constructing  a  road,  railroad,  or  canal,  across  the  isth- 
mus of  Tehuantepec,  pursuant  to  the  decrees  of  that  government  of  the  1st  of  Maroh, 
1842,  9th  of  February,  4th  of  October,  and  29th  of  December,  1843,  and  5th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1846;  all  those  employed  in  the  works  of  construction,  and  all  others  who  may 
reside  on  the  territory  within  the  limits  defined  by  the  grant  according  to  the  terms 
of  the  grant  itself,  shall  be  protected  in  their  persons  and  property  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  work  until  its  completion,  and  during  the  period  for  which  the  privileges 
are  granted." 

The  decrees  here  recited  are  those  which  conveyed  the  grant 
to  Garay.  So  Mr.  Webster  rejected  the  treaty  drawn  by  Mr. 
Clayton,  sent  to  Mexico  and  accepted  there,  which  did  not  rec- 
ognise the  Garay  grant,  and  sent  back  a  treaty  which  did,  in  ex- 
press words,  recognise  it,  and  he  instructed  Mr.  Letcher  to  try  to 
get  this  treaty  adopted  by  Mexico.  On  the  22d  of  October,  1850, 
Mr.  Letcher  reported  his  ill  success  in  these  words:  — 

"I  submitted  to  the  notice  of  the  minister  of  foreign  relations  the  several  alterations 
you  desired  to  make  to  the  Tehuantepec  treaty,  expressing  at  the  same  time  the  confi- 
dent hope  that  his  excellency  would  find  no  difficulty  in  readily  yielding  his  assent  to 
each  and  all  of  them.  In  reply  to  this  observation,  he  remarked,  his  government  had 
been  most  severely  and  shamefully  censured  for  agreeing  to  the  treaty  as  it  now  stands; 
that  he  was  sorry  to  say  it  was  quite  unpopular  in  his  country ;  that  he  himself  had 
been  denounced  as  a  vile  traitor  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in  it ;  still  he  was  resolutely 
determined,  he  said,  fearless  of  all  consequences,  to  do  any  and  every  thing  he  could 
to  carry  out  in  good  faith  a  measure  of  so  much  importance  to  the  two  republics." 
********** 

"A  further  discussion  of  an  hour  ensued.  He  adhered  most  obstinately  and  fiercely 
to  his  objections.  Whereupon  I  took  the  liberty  to  tell  him,  in  very  plain  language,  I 
was  not  at  all  satisfied  with  his  opinions,  or  with  his  reasons ;  and  therefore  requested 
to  be  heard  before  the  president  and  his  cabinet  upon  the  points  in  dispute." 


640  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE, 

Sir,  I  should  like  to  see  what  answer  the  minister  of  any  power 
on  earth  would  receive,  who  should  come  to  the  secretary  of 
state  of  this  nation,  and  tell  him  that  he  was  not  at  all  satisfied 
with  his  reasons  and  his  opinions,  and  demand  a  hearing  before 
the  president  and  cabinet?  What  is  just  and  right  for  one  power 
is  just  and  right  for  another.  If  we  exact  justice  or  courtesy 
from  the  strong,  we  should  concede  it  to  the  weak.  Mr.  Letcher 
obtained  his  hearing  before  the  president,  as  will  be  seen  from 
his  report,  in  these  words:  — 

"To  this  he  cheerfully  agreed;  and  the  next  day  at  11  o'clock  was  the  time  fixed 
upon  for  this  meeting  by  the  permission  of  the  president.  At  the  appointed  moment,. 
I  found  the  president  and  his  cabinet  all  in  attendance.  They  gave  me  a  cordial  re- 
ception, and  the  most  attentive  and  respectful  hearing  imaginable,  for  an  hour  and  a 
half;  and,  upon  taking  leave,  I  was  assured,  in  the  kindest  manner,  I  should  have 
every thing  I  desired  that  they  could  possibly  give  me." 

********** 

"The  chief  arguments  urged  against  the  amendments  in  question  appear  to  be  these: 

"1.  That  they  infringe  upon  the  sovereignty,  the  honor,  the  dignity,  and  national 
pride,  of  Mexico. 

"  2.  To  adopt  them  would  be  at  once  to  paralyze,  to  disgrace,  and  in  short  to  over- 
throw, the  present  administration. 

"3.  That  a  treaty  with  such  provisions  would  be  rejected  by  the  Mexican  congress- 
(probably)  without  a  single  dissenting  voice,  and  therefore  would  be  of  no  use  to  the 
United  States,  while  at  the  same  time  it  would  be  the  ruin  of  the  party  in  power." 

Mr.  Letcher  then  appears  to  have  tried  what  virtue  there  was 
in  threats.     Here  they  are  :  — 

"Since  the  final  decision  was  had,  the  president  and  every  member  of  his  cabinet 
have  manifested  the  deepest  concern  lest  you  should  be  displeased  at  the  result  Gen- 
eral Arista,  who  is  the  master-spirit  of  the  government,  is  exceedingly  uneasy.  Every 
day  or  two  a  message  is  sent  by  some  of  the  members  of  the  cabinet,  expressing  re- 
grets, and  hoping  I  am  not  dissatisfied.  The  only  answer  I  have  made  is,  'Mexico  has 
committed  a  great  error.' 

"It  may  also  be  proper  to  add,  during  the  various  discussions  which  took  place  in 
relation  to  the  points  in  dispute,  I  availed  myself  of  a  suitable  occasion  to  say,  in  the 
event  Mexico  refused  to  enter  into  a  fair  treaty  for  the  protection  of  the  enterprise, 
my  government,  in  justice  to  her  own  citizens,  who  had  made  large  investments  in  the 
undertaking,  was  determined  to  take  the  affair  into  her  own  hands." 

Now,  let  us  hear  the  answer  of  this  exotic  and  wind-shaken 
branch  of  the  ancient  and  chivalrous  family,  which,  on  its  native 
peninsula,  once  gave  laws  to  both  hemispheres.  Here  it  is ;  and 
it  will  remain  imperishable,  as  the  answer  of  an  oppressed  but 
high-minded  and  generous  people  :  — 

"Your  government  is  strong ;  ours  is  weak.  You  have  the  power  to  take  the  whole 
or  any  portion  of  our  territory  you  may  think  fit;  we  have  not  the  faculty  to  resist. 
We  have  done  all  we  could  do  to  satisfy  your  country,  and  to  gratify  you  personally^ 
"We  can  do  no  more."  *  *  *  "  What  is  required  of  us  we  can  not  grant.  If  Mr. 
Webster  knew  our  exact  position — if  he  knew  the  precarious  tenure  by  which  we  hold 
power,  the  violence  and  strength  of  the  opposition,  the  refractory  spirit  of  the  states, 
and  the  peculiar  prejudices  of  our  people — surely  he  would  not  exact  such  terms." 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  641 

But  Mr.  Webster  did  exact.  Castilian  pride  gave  way.  Arista 
and  his  ministers  succumbed ;  and  the  Tehuantepec  treaty,  with 
its  odious  recitals,  was  signed.  And  now  for  the  result.  Hear 
the  report  of  the  minister,  Mr.  Letcher :  — 

"Legation  of  the  United  States  of  America,  ) 
"Mexico,  April  8,  1851.      ) 

"Sir:  The  Tehuantepec  treaty,  I  regret  to  say,  was  rejected  last  night  by  the  cham- 
ber of  deputies,  a  bare  quorum  being  present,  in  a  few  minutes  after  it  was  submitted 
by  the  government  for  consideration,  by  a  vote  of  seventv-one  to  one.  The  result,  so  far 
from  being  a  matter  of  surprise  to  me  or  to  any  one  else  in  tnis  country,  was  most  con- 
fidently anticipated.  The  few  deputies  who  were  favorably  disposed  toward  the  meas- 
ure, knowing  perfectly  well  that  they  would  be  instantly  denounced  as  traitors  to  their 
country  in  case  they  voted  for  it,  deemed  it  expedient  to  absent  themselves  from  the 
chamber  when  the  vote  was  taken. 

"Such  was  the  intemperate  and  uncompromising  hoatfV*.*-  to  the  Garay  grant,  that 
no  Mexican  in  or  out  of  the  chamber,  not  even  those  who  held  a  direct  interest  in  it, 
dared  to  whisper  a  single  word  in  its  support.  In  fact,  the  deputy  who  voted  for  the 
ratification  declared  his  judgment  was  opposed  to  it  in  every  particular,  but  fearing  its 
rejection  might  occasion  another  war  between  the  two  countries,  he  felt  compelled  to  vote 
for  it. 

"  It  is  altogether  impossible  to  make  a  treaty  having  the  least  connection  with  the 
Garay  grant." 

That  is  Mr.  Letcher's  report.  And  now  I  ask  my  honorable 
friend  from  Virginia  where  it  is  in  these  negotiations  that  he  finds- 
that  Mexico  recognised  the  validity  of  the  Garay  grant  ? 

I  have  no  hostility  to  the  Garay  grant,  or  to  its  assignees,  or  to 
their  enterprise.  I  therefore  shall  hold  my  own  mind  in  reserve, 
to  form  a  favorable  judgment  upon  them  in  future,  instead  of  en- 
deavoring to  bring  other  senators  to  the  conclusion  that  the  grant 
is  invalid,  or  that  the  assignment  is  unavailing  ;  and  I  will  now 
present  the  deductions  I  make  from  the  case,  which  I  have  thus 
traced  out  by  history  and  argument,  in  a  negative  form,  to  wit : 
First,  that  the  committee  on  foreign  relations  ao  not  show  that 
the  American  assignees  have  an  existing  title  to  the  right  to  open 
the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  ;  and,  secondly,  that  they  do  not  show 
that  the  validity  of  the  grant  has  been  recognised  by  Mexico 
since  its  abrogation  by  the  Mexican  Congress. 

Here  I  might  leave  the  question ;  but  in  that  case  I  should 
leave  undone  what  it  is  the  duty  of  some  senator  to  do,  viz :  to 
exhaust  the  subject,  and  present  fully  the  grounds  of  the  votes 
which  must  be  given  against  the  resolutions  before  the  senate. 

You  will  perceive  that  hitherto  I  have  assumed,  in  this  argu- 
ment, two  things :  First,  that  the  grant  to  Garay  was  assignable ; 
and,  secondly,  that  an  assignment  was  made  by  Garay,  which 
has  come  to  be  vested  in  the  hands  of  American  citizens.  Pro- 
ceeding upon  these  assumptions,  I  ask  you  to  take  notice  of  an- 

VOL.  111.-4:1 


642  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

other  important  point  in  the  case.  It  is  indisputable  that  what- 
ever conditions  Salas  attached  to  his  decree  entered  into  the 
assignments  when  made.  Let  me  show  you  the  conditions 
imposed  by  Salas : — 

"Art.  13.  It  shall  be  an  express  condition  in  all  contracts  with  colonists,  that  thev 
shall  renounce  the  privileges  of  their  original  domicil  so  long  as  they  reside  in  th.« 
country,  subjecting  themselves  to  all  the  existing  colonial  regulations  which  are  not  m 
conflict  with  the  present  law. 

"Art.  14.  The  enterprise  shall  submit  for  the  approval  of  government  all  contracts 
which  it  shall  make  for  the  introduction  of  families  and  laborers,  and  it  shall  keep  a 
public  and  authentic  register  of  all  its  transactions  in  respect  to  all  matters  of  coloni- 
zation." 

I  have  translated  these  conditions  from  the  record  of  the  decree, 
which  is  before  me.  Let  me  show  what  was  the  contemporaneous 
exposition  of  them  given  by  Salas,  and  which  accompanied  the 
approval  of  the  assignment.     Here  it  is  : — 

"  According  to  the  spirit  of  the  aforesaid  law,  this  renunciation  must  take  place  in  the 
most  positive  and  conclusive  manner  on  the  part  of  the  settlers,  so  that,  whatever  circum- 
stances may  happen,  and  whatever  measures  these  may  require,  neither  the  settlers  afore- 
said nor  the  proprietors  may,  in  any  case,  nor  for  any  cause,  plead  alien  privileges, 
nor  any  other  privileges  except  those  which  have  been  granted,  or  may  be  granted,  to  them 
by  the  laws  of  the  country  to  which  both  their  persons  and  their  property  must  be  subject- 
ed; and  without  this  requisite  they  will  not  be  admitted." 

Here  are  American  citizens  claiming  the  extension  of  this 
grant,  by  an  assignment  which  was  made  upon  the  express  and 
published  condition  of  an  absolute  denationalization  ;  and  yet  we 
are  interposing  in  their  behalf,  upon  the  ground  of  the  very 
privileges  of  alienship,  which  they  renounced  to  acquire  the 
rights,  and  we  are  claiming  rights  for  those  who,  if  they  have  an 
assignment,  are  held  by  it  to  have  renounced  altogether  their 
citizenship  of  the  United  States.  "We  are  required  to  make  re- 
prisals or  war  against  Mexico,  for  violating  their  rights  under 
that  very  contract.  Let  us  see  how,  in  point  of  fact,  the  assignees 
stand  in  regard  to  this  assignment.  You  will  take  notice  that  no 
assignment  was  ever  publicly  known,  or  communicated  to  the 
Mexican  government,  before  the  decree  of  Salas,  extending  the 
grant ;  but  after  the  decrees  of  Salas,  Garay  made  known  to  the 
Mexican  government  that  before  the  decree  he  had  made  an 
assignment  to  Manning  &  Mackintosh,  and  Snyder  &  Co.  They 
have  never  produced  that  previous  assignment,  to  this  day.  It 
is  not  among  the  papers  before  us.  Whether  such  a  one  was 
ever  made,  and  whether  it  was  fraudulent ;  whether  it  contained 
what  they  said  of  it  or  not,  there  is  no  evidence ;  but  the  only 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  643 

evidence  they  have  is  a  title  by  an  assignment  subsequent,  re- 
citing that  they  had  a  transfer  made  before  the  decree.  Here  is 
the  notice  which  Garay  gave  to  the  Mexican  government  of  the 
assignment  which  he  had  made  to  those  parties: — 

"  With  these  views  [those  concerning  colonization],  I  succeeded  in  concluding  a  con- 
tract with  the  house  of  Messrs.  Manning  &  Mackintosh,  and  Snyder  <fe  Co.,  independent 
of  that  for  constructing  a  way  of  communication  between  the  two  seas,  by  which  [contract] 
those  gentlemen  are  to  introduce  settlers  on  the  lands." 

The  fifth  article  in  that  very  deed  of  assignment  recited  that 
Garay  did  not  convey  to  them,  but  actually  reserved  to  himself, 
the  right  to  open  the  isthmus,  in  these  words  : — 

"  That  by  this  transfer  on  the  part  of  the  covenanter,  Don  Jose  Garay,  it  is  not  to  be 
understood  that  he  confers  upon  Messrs.  Manning  &  Mackintosh,  and  upon  Snyder  & 
Co.,  ang  right  whatever  to  carry  on  navigation  from  one  sea  to  the  other  ;", 

And  then  grants  them  the  navigation  of  the  little  river  on  this 
side  of  the  isthmus  (Coatzacoalcos),  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to 
the  enjoyment  of  their  lands ;  and  then  adds,  as  a  further  and 
superlative  precaution,  an  additional  reservation  of  non-interfer- 
ence with  his  privilege  of  interoceanic  communication.  On  the 
13th  of  January,  1849 — to  wit:  two  months  after  the  expiration 
of  the  two  years  of  extension  allowed  by  the  decree  of  Salas — 
Manning  &  Mackintosh  announced  to  the  Mexican  government, 
u  that  Don  Jose  Garay  had  transferred  to  their  house  the  privi- 
lege of  constructing  a  way  of  communication  between  the  two 
seas,  by  the  way  of  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec"  On  receiving 
this  note,  the  Mexican  government  acted  decidedly  and  promptly, 
reminding  the  assignees  that  that  part  of  the  grant  was  untrans- 
ferable, and  also  that  the  whole  grant  was  extinct ;  the  last  ex- 
tension granted  by  Salas,  like  all  the  preceding  ones,  having 
expired  without  commencing  the  work. 

It  remains  on  this  point  only  to  say,  that  whatever  title  any 
American  citizens  may  have,  they  have  only  the  same  title 
which  Manning  &  Mackintosh,  and  Snyder  &  Co.,  had,  with  all 
its  imperfections  on  its  head. 

I  shall  omit  the  question  whether  the  original  grant  of  Santa 
Anna  to  his  favorite,  Don  Jose  Garay,  of  the  privilege  of  open- 
ing the  isthmus,  was  assignable.  The  Mexican  government  say 
that  it  was  not;  that  Garay  was  intrusted  to  execute  a  great 
national  work  as  a  mere  agent.  If  such  a  question  as  that 
should  arise  in  the  United  States,  what  should  we  say?    The 


64:4:  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

president  of  the  United  States  every  day  issues  commissions  to 
individuals  to  perform  certain  duties.  Congress  every  day  pass 
laws  authorizing  individuals  to  build  custom-houses,  &c.  I 
would  like  to  know  who  there  is,  in  Congress  or  out  of  it,  that 
would  admit  that  an  administrative  officer,  or  an  architect  upon 
a  public  building,  has  a  contract  which  he  can  assign  to  a  for- 
eigner, and  thereby  convey  to  a  foreign  power  the  right  to  tell 
us  that  we  must  execute  the  contract  with  its  subjects. 

[Mr.  Downs:  I  would  ask  the  senator  to  state,  if  this  contract  be  not  assignable,  why- 
it  was  that  the  Mexican  government  declared  to  Mr.  Trist  that  it  was  assignable,  and 
that  it  had  been  assigned  ?  Is  not  the  Mexican  government  as  competent  to  decide- 
that  question  as  the  senate  of  the  United  States  ?] 

If  my  honorable  and  very  esteemed  friend  from  Louisiana,, 
who  argued  this  case  with  great  ability  the  other  day,  had  not 
had  his  attention  diverted,  he  would  have  seen  that  I  have  al- 
ready anticipated  the  question  which  he  has  propounded  to  me. 
I  threw  out  this  view  of  the  subject  to  show  that  what  Mexico 
insists  upon  has  at  least  the  merit  of  plausibility.  I  ask  only  that 
it  be  so  considered.  It  is  enough  for  my  purpose  that,  according- 
to  the  view  which  I  have  taken,  the  committee  have  not  shown 
the  validity  of  the  assignment,  and  the  validity  of  the  title  of  the 
claimants. 

I  ask  you  now  to  consider  what  are  the  unreasonable  demands 
which  Mexico  makes,  and  which  it  is  supposed  that  we  can  not 
allow ;  and  I  shall  take  that  in  the  words  of  the  honorable  chair- 
man of  the  committee  on  foreign  relations  [Mr.  Mason]  : — 

"  In  all  the  propositions  which  have  since  emanated  from  the  Mexican  government, 
in  their  proposals  inviting  new  companies  to  construct  this  work,  they  have  imposed 
limitations  and  restrictions  which  must  discourage  all  from  attempting  it,  or  which 
would  have  the  effect,  if  complied  with,  of  leaving  that  work  exclusively  in  the  charge 
of  the  Mexican  government.  The  propositions  are  of  this  character :  the  contractors 
are  required,  in  the  first  place,  to  acknowledge  the  unqualified  sovereignty  of  Mexico 
over  the  transit,  and  her  right  to  impose  any  political  charges  whatever  upon  persona 
or  property  passing  over  it  They  are  required  to  acknowledge  a  concurrent  right  in 
the  government  of  Mexico  to  fix  the  corporate  charges.  They  are  required  to  agree 
to  place  their  mail-steamers  under  the  national  flag  of  Mexico,  and  all  their  vessels  are 
to  be  subject  to  tonnage  and  lighterage  duties.  They  are  required  to  agree  to  trans- 
port no  troops  or  munitions  of  war  across  the  isthmus,  except  with  the  express  per- 
mission of  Mexico.  They  are  required  to  discriminate  in  favor  of  such  nations  as  shall 
guaranty  this  monopoly,  by  deducting  twenty-five  per  cent,  from  the  corporate 
charges  in  their  favor;  they  are  required  to  transfer  the  work  at  cost  to  Mexico,  and, 
more  than  all,  those  who  are  there  constructing  this  work  are  required  to  renounce 
their  right  to  the  protection  of  their  own  governments,  and  become  de  facto  Mexican 
citizens." 

Now,  sir,  you  see  what  the  whole  difficulty  is ;  that  what  is 
claimed  for  these  American  proprietors  is  that  they  shall  not  be 


MEXICO   AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  645 

obliged  to  denationalize  themselves,  but  that  Mexico  shall  be 
obliged  to  denationalize  herself;  that  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  or  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  control 
over  the  commerce  of  the  isthmus  in  all  the  particulars  which 
have  been  read  from  the  speech  of  the  honorable  senator.  Now, 
consider  the  condition  of  the  United  States,  which  I  will  not  por- 
tray ;  consider  the  present  condition  of  Mexico,  which  I  need 
not  describe ;  consider  the  character  of  the  population  of  the 
United  States  and  of  Mexico,  which  I  need  not  illustrate ;  con-_ 
eider  the  extent  of  the  franchises  thus  insisted  upon, Lan d_tell_ms__ 
what  result  can  happen  to  Mexico,  by  her  conceding  what  is 
demanded  of  her,  short  of  a  dismemberment,  sooner  or  later,  of 
the  Mexican  nation,  a  dissolution  of  the  federal  union  of  the 
states,  and  the  extinction  of  the  republic  of_Mexico,  even  if,  while__ 

we  are  here,  that  extinction  has  not  already  come  about.     Sir,  in — 

that  case,  Mexico  will  not  be  a  self-sustaining  power.     She  must 


be  sustained  by;,, somebody."  Except  the  Um^ed^ftates,  there  is 
no  American  power  that  can  guaranty  the  maintenance  of  a  gov- 
ernment in  Mexico.  The  United  States  will  not  consent  that  any 
European  power  shall  guaranty  the  preservation  of  a  government 
there.  The  Monroe  doctrine,  and  the  traditions  cherished  by  us, 
prohibit  that.  What  then  ?  As  a  consequence  of  making  these 
concessions,  Mexico  must  fall  into  the  United  States. 

Mr.  President,  I  began  this  examination,  if  not  in  favor  of  the 
propositions  of  the  committee,  at  least  favorable  to  a  result  which 
would  enable  me  to  support  these  claimants.  The  result  is  not 
satisfactory.  I  am  obliged,  therefore,  to  say  that  I  can  not  vote 
to  sustain  the  resolutions.  I  will  now  briefly  review  the  points 
made  by  the  committee,  in  my  own  order.  And  first,  this  point 
is  made  by  the  committee  :  — 

"That  the  United  States  stands  committed  to  all  of  its  citizens,  to  protect  them  in 
all  their  rights  abroad  as  well  as  at  home,  within  the  sphere  of  its  jurisdiction." 

I  hope  the  senate  has  considered  the  length  and  the  breadth 
of  this  proposition.  I  am  obliged  to  ask  some  modification  of  it. 
I  am  glad  to  know  that  I  have  the  support  of  Mr.  Hargous,  who 
has  charge  of  this  claim,  and  also  of  the  late  distinguished  sec- 
retary of  state.  What  is  the  opinion  of  the  New  Orleans  com- 
pany upon  that  subject?  Mr.  Hargous  tells  us,  in  his  letter  to 
the  late  secretary  of  state,  Mr.  Webster,  when  invoking  the 
intervention  of  the  government:  — 


64:6  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

"They  are  aware  that,  in  ordinary  eases,  it  is  not  the  practice  of  the  United  States 
government  officially  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  who  may 
complain  of  the  violation  of  a  contract  which  they  may  have  entered  into  with  a  for- 
eign government;  but,  inasmuch  as  all  general  rules  have  their  exceptions,  and  as  the 
interest  of  the  American  government  and  public,  and  especially  those  of  the  citizens 
of  the  west  and  southwest,  are  largely  involved  in  the  success  of  the  Tehuantepee 
enterprise,  they  flatter  themselves  that  in  any  just  complaint  they  may  have  cause  to- 
prefer  against  the  Mexican  government,  they  shall  receive  the  hearty  protection  of 
their  own. 

"Your  answer  upon  this  point  especially  is  respectfully  solicited,  and  will  be 
anxiously  awaited." 

Here  are  these  proprietors,  telling  the  government  of  the 
United  States  that  they  know  that  what  they  ask  for  is  an  excep- 
tion to  the  law  of  nations,  as  practised  by  this  government. 
There  is  the  honorable  committee  on  foreign  relations,  telling  us 
that  the  rule  is  universal.  I  shall  subscribe  to  this  rule  with 
some  qualifications,  which  I  will  submit  to  the  consideration  of 
the  senate.  The  first  qualification  is,  that  the  rights  of  a  citizen,, 
which  the  government  is  bound  to  protect,  are  just  rights,  not 
unjust  ones  ;  that  they  are  not  unjust,  unconscientious,  or  immoral 
rights.     [Mr.  Mason  :  "What  is  a  just  right?] 

I  say  just  rights,  in  distinction  from  legal  rights.  According 
to  the  honorable  senator's  notions  and  mine,  there  are  things  that 
are  right  because  they  are  declared  by  law.  There  are  things 
that  are  right  whether  they  are  declared  by  law  or  not.  The 
second  qualification  is,  that  the  rights  which  the  government  is 
bound  to  protect  must  be  certain  and  absolute,  not  uncertain  or 
doubtful.  Third,  that  the  right  of  the  individual  to  the  protec- 
tion of  his  government  is  subordinate  to  the  general  welfare  and 
interest  of  the  state.  Upon  this  point,  as  the  honorable  chair- 
man of  the  committee  will  give  some  authority,  I  will  repose 
myself  on  Mr.  Webster's  reply  to  the  letter  of  Mr.  Hargous> 
which  I  have  already  submitted  :  — 

"Should  the  event  prove  otherwise,  however,  it  can  not  be  doubted  that  in  such  a 
case,  in  which  the  interests  of  individuals  would  be  obviously  subordinate  to  those  of  the 
public,  any  other  means  which  might  be  necessary  for  your  protection  would  be 
authorized  and  employed." 

The  protection  which  a  government  owes  to  its  citizens  is  a 
protection  according  to  circumstances — a  protection  consistent 
with  public  justice  and  the  public  welfare.  The  government 
may  discharge  itself  of  its  obligations  in  some  cases,  by  leaving 
the  individual  to  maintain  his  domestic  rights  in  the  domestic 
courts,  and  it  may  leave  the  citizen  who  has  rights  under  a  for- 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  647 

eign  government  to  seek  redress  from  that  government  in  its 
courts  or  otherwise.  There  never  was  and  never  will  be  a  gov- 
ernment which  can  be  under  an  obligation  to  its  citizens,  by 
which  one  of  them,  having,  for  the  purpose  of  commerce  or  spec- 
ulation, made  a  contract  with  the  subjects  of  another  country,  or 
with  the  government  of  another  country,  can,  ipso  facto,  involve 
the  nation  to  which  he  belongs  in  reprisals  or  war,  to  compel  that 
government  to  execute  its  contract.  That  would  be  to  enable  one 
citizen,  at  the  suggestion  of  his  own  interest  or  caprice,  to  put  in 
jeopardy  the  interest,  welfare,  happiness,  or  safety,  of  all  other 
citizens.  Least  of  all  can  there  be  any  such  principle  of  the  law 
of  nations  applied  in  a  case  where  the  contract  is  disputed,  or  of 
doubtful  morality  or  validity.  This  disposes  of  the  first  proposi- 
tion of  the  committee. 

Their  second  proposition  is :  — 

"That  should  Mexico,  within  a  reasonable  time,  fail  to  reconsider  her  position  con- 
cerning said  grant,  it  will  then  become  the  duty  of  this  government  to  review  the 
existing  relations  with  that  republic,  and  to  demand  such  measures  as  will  preserve 
the  honor  of  the  country  and  the  rights  of  its  citizens." 

This  is  a  corollary  from  the  first  proposition,  and  falls  with  it. 
Their  third  proposition  is :  — 

"That,  in  the  present  posture  of  the  question,  it  is  not  compatible  with  the  dignity 
of  this  government  to  prosecute  the  subject  further  by  negotiation.  If  Mexico,  there- 
fore, shall  offer  further  negotiation,  it  shall  be  declined,  unless  it  shall  be  offered  based 
upon  our  own  terms." 

This,  also,  is  a  corollary  from  the  first  proposition,  and  falls 
with  it.  Moroever,  if  it  be  consistent  with  the  dignity  and  honor 
of  this  nation  to  abide  by  its  treaties  —  treaties  solemnly  and 
sacredly  made  —  then  it  is  consistent  with  the  duty  of  the  United 
States,  and  it  is  their  bounden  duty,  either  to  tender  to  Mexico, 
or  to  wait  for  Mexico  to  tender  to  them,  a  proposal  to  submit 
this  dispute  to  an  arbitration  consisting  of  two  persons,  one  of 
whom  shall  be  named  by  each  power,  or  to  the  arbitration  of  a 
foreign  nation.     This  disposes  of  the  resolutions  of  the  committee. 

Mr.  President,  I  am  approaching  the  end  of  this  long  discus- 
sion, and  I  shall  now  dismiss  Don  Jose  Garay,  his  grant,  his 
assignment,  his  assignees,  and  their  grievances.  I  come  to  a 
second  ground,  which  has  been  assumed,  not  so  much  in  the 
report  as  in  the  speeches  of  the  honorable  senators  who  support 
these  resolutions,  viz. :   That  the  United  States  have  a  public 


648  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

interest  in  opening  the  Tehuantepec  communication  as  an  oceanic 
connection,  which  renders  it  the  duty  of  the  United  States  on 
this  occasion  to  adopt  the  resolutions  submitted  to  us  upon  this 
subject.  I  have  to  say,  in  the  first  place,  that  as  any  defect  in 
the  Garay  claim,  or  in  the  assignments  of  it,  can  not  be  cured 
by  the  existence  of  a  coincident  public  interest  on  the  part  of 
the  nation,  so  also  this  public  interest  which  is  thus  brought 
before  us  is  not  aided  at  all  by  the  Garay  claim.  If  it  is  the 
right  of  the  United  States  to  compel  Mexico  to  enter  into  a  stipu- 
lation to  open  the  way,  that  right  is  absolute  and  independent  of 
the  Garay  grant,  whether  that  grant  be  valid  or  otherwise.  Upon 
what  ground  is  it  that  the  committee  on  foreign  relations  claim 
this  right?     Hear  the  honorable  chairman  of  that  committee  :  — 

"I  come  now  to  look  at  this  question  in  another  point  of  view.  I  lay  it  down, 
without  hesitancy  and  without  fear,  that  we  have  a  right  to  a  way  across  Tehuante- 
pec. According  to  public  law,  this  government  may  demand  of  Mexico  a  way  across 
Tehuantepec;  and  Mexico  can  not  refuse  it  unless  she  becomes  disloyal  to  the  general 
compact  of  nations.  What  is  a  right  of  way?  Everyone  is  familiar  with  that  It 
pertains  to  individuals  in  life,  as  it  pertains  to  nationa  I  understand  that  writers 
upon  public  law  derive  it  from  that  primitive  state,  when  the  entire  earth  was  com- 
mon to  all  men,  and  passage  over  it  was  free  to  all,  according  to  their  varied  necessi- 
ties. Such  was  the  nature  of  this  right  before  government  was  formed,  or  their  insti- 
tution of  separate  property  ordained.  By  these,  the  right  in  question  was  only  lim- 
ited in  its  exercise;  it  was  not  destroyed :  and  it  revives  and  resuscitates  whenever 
there  is  a  necessity  making  the  way  indispensable.  It  is  illustrated  in  familiar  life 
every  day.  If  I  purchase  a  piece  of  land  so  surrounded  by  the  possessions  of  him 
from  whom  it  is  derived  that  I  have  no  way  out  to  mill  or  to  market  I  maJ  take  it,  as 
a  right  incident  to  the  acquisition.  It  is  a  principle  resulting  from  necessity,  and  is 
modified  as  circumstances  may  require.  A  way  impracticable  in  its  use  is  the  same 
thing  as  no  way  at  all ;  and  such  is  the  exact  posture  of  our  present  way  across  the 
northern  continent.  We  purchased  California  from  Mexico,  paid  a  large  equivalent 
for  it  and  we  have  in  fact  no  way  across  our  own  continent  to  get  to  it" 

That  is,  the  law  of  nations  gives  us  the  right  to  cross  the  isth- 
mus of  Tehuantepec,  and  it  is  an  absolute  right.  As  it  is  by 
virtue  of  the  higher  law,  higher  than  treaties,  higher  than  the 
constitutions  of  the  United  States  and  of  Mexico,  the  law  of 
God,  which  is  the  law  of  necessity,  it  is  a  perfect  right.  I  have 
to  say  on  this  argument,  in  the  first  place,  that  when  we  had 
euch  a  right,  one  so  perfect,  and  descending  to  us  so  directly 
from  Almighty  power  and  Divine  justice,  it  was  most  bungling 
diplomacy  to  rest  that  right  upon  the  grant  of  the  Mexican  gov- 
ernment to  Don  Jose  Garay.  I  have  to  say,  in  the  second  place, 
that  while  I  might  not  deny  that  we  have  the  right  to  a  way 
across  Mexico,  there  is  still  another  question  which  the  honor- 
able senator  has  not  disposed  of.  I  remember  a  comedy  which 
I  saw  acted  once,  in  which  the  parents  of  two  lovers  sought  to 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  649 

prevent  their  union  under  a  mutual  mistake.  It  resulted  in  their 
flight  and  marriage ;  and  when  they  presented  themselves  for 
forgiveness,  the  parents  found  that  just  exactly  the  union  which 
they  had  desired  and  studied  to  bring  about  was  what  had  taken 
place,  and  which  they  had  opposed,  under  the  supposition  that 
each  had  some  other  party  in  view.  The  father  of  the  groom 
was  obdurate.  The  father  of  the  bride  said:  " Well,  now,  will 
you  not  forgive  your  son?  Have  you  not  got  your  own  way, 
after  all  ?"  The  inflexible  parent  replied :  "  Yes,  I  have  got  my 
•own  way,  but  I  have  not  got  my  own  way  of  having  it."  Now, 
I  ask  the  honorable  chairman  of  the  committee,  whether  besides 
having  an  absolute  right,  by  the  higher  law,  to  the  road  across 
Mexico,  we  have  a  right  to  our  own  way  of  having  it?  I 
think  not. 

But,  sir,  the  honorable  senator  supposes  that  this  right  of  way 
over  Tehuantepec  inures  to  us  by  virtue  of  a  higher  law,  upon  the 
ground  that  a  portion  of  our  territory  is  behind  Mexico  and  another 
portion  before  Mexico,  and  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  pass  through 
Mexico  in  order  to  go  from  one  part  of  our  possessions  to  another, 
like  a  farmer  who  has  a  right  to  go  to  another  part  of  his  own 
farm  over  another  man's  lands.  I  remind  the  senator  that  we 
voluntarily  placed  ourselves  behind  Mexico ;  and  I  think  that  if 
I  go  and  take  a  farm  behind  another  man's  farm,  or  the  soil  under 
his  farm,  I  have  no  right  to  reach  that  new  possession  by  going 
across  and  over,  or  upward  and  through,  his  farm. 

Fourthly.  At  the  time  we  acquired  our  possessions  on  the 
Pacific,  we  applied  to  Mexico  to  give  us  this  very  right  of  way 
across  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec,  and  she  gave  us  good  reasons 
why  she  thought  she  would  rather  not.  We  assented  and  waived 
the  demand,  and  permitted  her  to  rise  from  the  earth,  upon 
which  we  had  prostrated  her,  without  surrendering  this  right. 
Now,  I  think  it  is  too  late  to  insist  upon  it. 

Fifthly.  If  our  real  object  in  obtaining  the  right  of  way  across 
the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec  is  to  open  an  interoceanic  communi- 
cation for  our  own  benefit,  and  for  the  welfare  and  benefit  of 
mankind,  the  right  has  already  been  offered  for  our  acceptance, 
and  the  offer  is  still  open.  What  has  been  already  quoted 
proves  this.  But,  for  greater  certainty,  hear  your  minister,  Mr. 
Letcher :  — 

"Recently  I  have  had  several  earnest  conversations  with  Mr.  Ramirez,  regarding; 
the  treaty  of  Tehuantepec.     Our  interview,  two  nights  ago,  lasted  upward  of  four 


650  SPEECHES  IN  THE. UNITED  STATES  SENATE 

hours.  His  excellency,  upon  each  occasion,  manifested  great  concern  upon  the  sub- 
ject, and  was  evidently  very  much  surprised  at  my  apparent  indifference.  It  is  quite 
obvious  he  now  feels  sensibly  the  responsibility  of  his  position.  I  listened  calmly  and 
patiently  to  all  he  had  to  say.  He  reiterated,  in  strong  language,  what  he  had  often 
previously  declared,  that  the  treaty,  in  its  present  form,  could  never  be  ratified  by 
the  Mexican  congress ;  that  any  attempt  on  the  part  of  the  government  to  favor  its 
approval,  would  end  in  nothing  but  its  own  immediate  downfall ;  that  he  was  sorry  to 
say  the  feeling  of  his  country,  at  the  present  time,  against  the  United  States,  wa& 
exceedingly  strong;  so  much  so,  that  no  one  in  power  could  venture  to  advocate  a 
more  intimate  association  with  that  country;  that  he  was  altogether  satisfied  the 
interest  of  Mexico,  and  in  fact  that  of  the  whole  commercial  world,  demanded  the 
contemplated  connection  between  the  two  oceans;  that,  so  far  from  throwing  obsta- 
cles in  the  way  of  that  connection,  Mexico  was  rally  prepared  to  go  every  reasouable 
length  to  secure  that  great  object;  that  Mexico  was  poor  and  oppressed,  but,  so  far  as- 
he  had  it  in  his  power  to  guard  and  protect  her  honor,  he  was  determined  she  should 
not  only  be  free  from  just  reproach,  but  should  stand  upon  elevated  grounds  before  the 
world,  in  every  particular,  in  reference  to  a  matter  of  so  much  importance;  that 
although  she  had  been,  and  was  at  this  moment,  badly  treated  by  many  of  my  coun- 
trymen, still,  from  motives  of  sound  policy,  she  was  disposed — and  such  was  his  own 
sincere  wish — to  concede  to  the  United  States,  in  preference  to  any  other  power,  all 
the  privileges  which  might  be  necessary  to  accomplish  the  greatest  enterprise  of  the 
age ;  but  that,  in  the  event  of  such  concessions,  no  allusion  must  be  made  to  the  Garay 
grant. 

'"Leave  out  that  grant,  say  nothing  about  it,  and  I  am  ready,'  said  he,  'to  enter 
into  a  treaty  with  you  which  I  think  will  be  satisfactory  to  both  countries.'" 

Hear,  also,  the  letter  of  President  Arista,  of  the  15th  of  April 
last,  to  President  Fillmore  : — 

"Among  the  differences  enumerated  by  your  excellency,  there  is  no  one  which  can 
produce  any  serious  difficulties  between  the  two  republics:  for  Mexico  has  always 
been  disposed  to  consent  to  the  opening  of  a  communication  through  the  isthmus  of 
Tehuantepec,  for  the  free  and  untrammeled  commerce  of  the  whole  world ;  in  this- 
respect  she  agrees  entirely  with  the  ideas  and  principles  expressed  by  your  excellency 
in  your  last  message  to  Congress.  Her  government  has  given  assurance  of  this  in  all 
its  official  acts;  the  explicit  and  full  confirmation  of  this  intention  your  excellency 
will  have  remarked  in  the  projet  for  a  treaty,  which  the  minister  of  foreign  relations 
presented  on  the  3d  of  January  last,  to  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States,  as  a  substitute  for  the  treaty  then  pending,  but  which  presented  insuperable 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  its  being  approved.  The  same  feeling  now  exists — for  even 
after  this  sentiment  had  been  misunderstood  by  Mr.  Letcher  on  the  one  side,  and  re- 
proved by  Congress  on  the  other  (as  shown  by  rejection  of  treaty),  as  late  as  yesterday, 
a  bill  was  introduced  into  the  house  of  deputies,  imposing  on  the  government  the  obli- 
gation to  proceed  immediately  to  open  the  communication  by  Tehuantepec,  and  author- 
izing it,  at  the  same  time,  to  make  use  of  all  the  means  that  it  may  judge  proper  and 
necessary  for  the  attainment  of  the  object.  These  facts,  presented  in  an  authentic  form,, 
prove  most  indisputably  that  Mexico,  far  from  opposing  this  great  work,  encourages  it 
as  much  as  possible;  and  must  conclusively  shows  that  it  can  not  be  a  cause  for  disa- 
greement between  her  and  the  United  States. 

"But  by  the  side  of  this  merely  apparent  difficulty  there  is  one, which  is  so  in  reality, 
not  from  its  own  intrinsic  character,  but  from  the  circumstances  which  are  connected 
with  it.  These  are  found  in  the  pretensions  advanced  by  the  agents  of  the  New 
Orleans  company,  who  appear  to  be  determined  that  the  opening  of  the  communica- 
tion shall  take  place  in  no  other  way,  except  under  the  privilege  granted  to  Don  Jose 
Garay.  This  pretension  (which  Mr.  Letcher  believes  himself  bound  resolutely  to  up- 
hold) has  caused  the  utter  failure  of  all  pending  negotiations,  by  blocking  up  all  the 
doors  to  a  prudent  compromise;  it  is  altogether  incompatible  with  the  decree  of  Con- 
gress, which  declares  the  privilege  of  Gavay  to  have  become  extinct,  in  consequence 
of  the  illegality  of  its  extension  ;  under  such  circumstances  it  was  impossible  to  nego- 
tiate a  satisfactory  treaty,  and  if  negotiated,  nothing  would  have  been  gained  by  it ; 
for  Congress  was  determined  to  reject  it." 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.        651 

•  Now,  sir,  you  have  only  to  contemplate  one  more  grade  in  the 
humiliation  to  which  you  have  brought  Mexico,  to  bring  com- 
punction to  your  heart.  Here  it  is  :  Mexico  has  not  only  offered 
you  this  very  right,  on  the  condition  that  you  would  relinquish 
the  Garay  grant,  but  she  has  offered  to  indemnify — ay,  to  indem- 
nify the  assignees  of  the  Garay  grant,  for  pecuniary  losses. 

"In  answer  to  a  suggestion  or  two  I  had  the  honor  to  offer,  I  understood  his  excel- 
lency to  say,  in  so  many  words,  in  order  to  avoid  all  difficulties  that  may  probably 
arise,  in  case  the  treaty  shall  be  rejected,  Mexico  is  willing  to  indemnify  the  holder* 
of  the  Garay  grant,  and  also  the  New  Orleans  company,  for  the  money  they  have- 
heretofore  expended  in  the  enterprise. 

"In  my  despatch  of  the  29th  of  October,  I  mentioned  that  the  minister  had  used 
this  remark,  in  substance :  '  Mexico  is  prepared  to  stand  all  the  consequences  that 
may  result  from  a  rejection  of  the  treaty.'  I  am  now  pretty  well  satisfied  he  meant 
•pecuniary  consequences,  and  nothing  more." — Letter  to  Mr.  Letcher. 

Senators,  behold  here  the  fundamental  error  in  all  these  trans- 
actions— the  error  which  might  have  been,  and  ought  to  have 
been,  perceived  —  a  private  speculation,  with  which  the  govern- 
ment had  nothing  to  do,  combined,  mingled,  confounded  with  a 
great  national  enterprise  —  a  private  speculation,  undertaken  on 
public  account.  A  great  national  interest  brought  down  to  the 
mire,  and  polluted  by  contamination  in  an  association  with  pri- 
vate speculation.  Now,  I  ask,  is  it  not  high  time  to  separate 
this  private  speculation  from  this  great  national  world-wide  im- 
portant concern  ?  Sir,  our  dignity  as  well  as  our  interest  requires 
us  to  review  our  own  position,  and  not  to  ask  Mexico  to  recon- 
sider hers — to  retrace  our  own  steps  —  to  dissolve  our  connection, 
with  this  "New  Orleans  company ;  to  dissolve  the  connection  of 
our  government  with  speculators  —  speculators,  whether  upon 
the  levee  on  the  Mississippi,  or  upon  South  street  on  the  East 
river — to  dismiss  them  to  the  remedies  afforded  by  the  nation 
with  which  they  have  contracted — which  remedies  are  the  only 
ones  they  have  a  right  ■  to  expect,  or,  in  making  their  contract,, 
could  have  contemplated.  Then  prosecute  this  great  design  of 
interoceanic  communication  across  Mexico,  by  fair,  open,  single- 
handed,  single-hearted  diplomacy.  The  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec 
will  be  opened  in  good  time.  It  can  not  long  remain  closed 
against  the  spirit  of  the  age.  The  advance  of  our  country,  and 
of  civilization  throughout  this  continent,  assures  that  it  will  be 
opened. 

But  you  want  it  opened  now — you  can  not  wait.  There  is  no- 
urgency,  there  is  no  haste  for  Tehuantepec.     You  want,  first  and 


*652  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE 

most,  a  communication  which  shall  bind  New  Orleans,  aftd 
Washington,  and  New  York,  on  the  Atlantic,  with  San  Francisco, 
on  the  Pacific.  The  safety  of  your  country,  the  safety  of  its 
Pacific  possessions,  demands  such  a  communication  —  not  over 
oceans  exposed  to  all  nations,  and  through  a  foreign  territory 
occupied  by  a  discontented,  aggrieved,  and  probably  hostile 
people,  but  inland,  and  altogether  through  your  own  country. 
You  want,  for  your  own  use,  for  your  own  commerce,  and  for 
the  commerce  of  Asia,  a  road  which  shall  have  the  advantage  of 
the  best  Atlantic  and  Pacific  harbors  which  can  be  obtained, 
with  one  continuous  connection  by  land,  so  that  there  shall  be  no 
necessity  for  reshipment  between  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  ports 
• — not  a  way  between  ports  yet  to  be  artificially  made,  on  the 
Caribbean  sea,  and  on  the  Pacific  coast,  with  changes  from  land 
to  water-carriage  requiring  breaking  of  bulk  at  least  twice  in  the 
course  of  transit. 

If  you  aim  to  erect  a  high  commercial  s.tmo.tnrp^  yon  TYiyn^bvy 
your  foundations  broadly_in  agriculture,  in  mining,  and  manu- 
facture:  and  all  these  within  your  own  domain  ;_and  use  the 
resources  which  God  and  nature  have  given  to  3^011,  and  not  those 
which  Providence  has  bestowed  upon  your  neighbors.  And  you 
want,  for  the  same  reason,  a  passage  across  the  continent  of  your 
•own,  not  shared  with  any  foreign  power,  and  through  your  own 
domain,  and  not  through  a  foreign  domain.  If  you  will  be  the 
•carriers  of  Europe  and  of  Asia,  if  you  will  be  the  carriers  in  even 
your  own  interoceanic  commerce,  you  must  receive,  you  must 
•convey,  you  must  deliver  merchandise,  within  your  own  tem- 
perate zone,  not  within  that  torrid  zone  whose  heats  are  noxious 
to  animal  and  vegetable  productions,  and,  while  so  deleterious  to 
the  articles  most  abundant  and  most  essential  to  the  subsistence 
•of  man,  pestilential  also  to  human  life  itself.  This  is  the  com- 
munication across  this  continent  which  you  want. 

But  I  shall  be  told,  as  I  have  been  told  by  the  advocates  of 
these  ill-starred  resolutions,  that  a  railroad  across  our  own  do- 
main is  not  feasible.  I  shall  give  but  a  brief  answer  to  that — 
nn  answer  in  the  letter  of  an  illiterate  man,  whose  experience 
■enables  him  to  bear  conclusive  testimony : — 

"Washington,  February,  1853. 
Sir:  I  have  the  honor  of  replying  as  follows  to  your  note  of  the  2d  instant,  making 
•certain  inquiries  regarding  the  practicability  of  building,  and  the  best  location  for  the 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  653 

proposed  Pacific  railroad,  that  I  think  it  is  perfectly  practicable,  and  the  best  route 
will  be  found  by  going  into  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande  at  Albuquerque,  and  thence 
crossing  over  by  the  Moqui  villages,  and  Little  Colorado  river  to  Walker's  Pass  in  the 
Sierra  Nevada,  and  from  there  down  the  San  Joaquin  valley  to  San  Francisco. 

I  have  crossed  from  New  Mexico  to  California  by  four  different  routes,  namely: 
Cook's  Sonora  route,  the  Salt  river  route,  that  recently  followed  by  Captain  Sit- 
greaves's  party,  and  the  old  Spanish  trail ;  and  the  one  I  have  before  described  (Cap- 
tain Sitgreaves's)  is*  in  my  opinion,  decidedly  the  best.  It  is  shorter,  more  direct,  and 
has  more  timber  and  level  country,  fewer  mountains,  more  cultivated,  and  perhaps 
more  cultivable  land  than  any  other  route. 

I  have  trapped  on  nearly  every  stream  between  Cook's  route  and  the  Great  Salt 
lake,  and  am  well  acquainted  with  the  region  of  country  between  these  places. 
Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant. 

ANTOINE  LEROUX. 

Hon.  William  H.  Seward. 

I  shall  be  told^that  if  it  be  feasible,  the  length,  of  tha  marl  i«. 
so  grteat  as  to  deter  us  from  attempting  it.  Wha*-  i^jt?  Twn 
^thousand  rmjes.  What  are  two  thousand  miles  of  railroad  for  the 
people  of  the  United  States  to  make,  who  within  eighteen  years 
past,  have  made  twelve  thousand  miles?  The  railroads  which 
have  been  made  in  the  state  of  New  York  alone,  have  an  aggre- 
gate length  of  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  one  miles,  ex- 
ceeding the  distance  from  Lake  Erie  to  the  Pacific  ocean.  And 
if  you  add  the  canals,  the  chain  would  reach  from  the  banks  of 
the  Hudson  river  to  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  ocean.  The  rail- 
roads already  made  in  the  United  States,  if  drawn  out  into  one 
lengthened  chain,  would  reach  from  Liverpool  to  Canton.  The 
railroads  which  have  been  made  and  are  now  being  %made  in  the 
United  States,  if  stretched  continuously  along,  would  more  than 
encircle  the  globe.  Again,  I  shall  be  told  of  the  cost  of  this 
railroad.  And  what  wiTTj^  its  cost?  ..Une  hundred  millions  of  ^ 
dollars.  A  cost  not  exceeding  the  revenue  of  the  government  nf  . 
"the  United  States  lor  two  years  only — a  cost  not  exceeding  the 
"revenue  of  the  federal  g.n.^ata.te  govern m^nf-p  fnrnnq  y^ar  One 
hunclrecl  millions  of  dollars ;  why,  we  have  offered  that  sum  for^ 
one  island  in  the  Caribbean  senT  Une  nundred  millions  of 
dollars ;  why,  New  York  city  spent  one  sixth  of  that  sum  in  sup- 
plying itself  with  water,  and  grew  all  the  while !  One  hundred 
millions  of  dollars ;  the  state  of  New  York  has  already  spent,  in 
making  canals  and  railroads,  one  hundred  and  thirteen  millions, 
and  prospered  while  spending  it  as  never  state  or  nation  pros- 
pered before.  That  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  if  it  should 
never  be  directly  reimbursed,  will  be  indirectly  replaced  within 
ten  years,  byHEITe  economy  which  it  would  enable  us  to  practise 
in  the  transportation  of  the  army,  and  of  the  supplies  of  the  army 


654  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

^  and  navy  over  it,  not  to  speak  of  the  still  more  important  benefits 

y'  of  bringing  the  public  domain  into  cultivation,  and  into  increased 

value,  and  developing  rapidly  the  mineral  wealth  of  California, 

which  can  be  only  imperfectly  realized  now,  because  labor  on 

that  side  of  the  continent  is  worth  four  dollars  a  day,  while  it  is 

c  worth  but  one  here. 

I  shall  be  told  there  are  constitutional  difficulties,  and  political 
dangers  attending  the  opening  of  this  railroad,  stretching  across 
our  own  country  to  San  Francisco.  Does,  then,  our  constitution 
authorize  us  to  make  a  canal  or  a  railroad  through  a  foreign 
country,  and  inhibit  such  a  work  in  our  own  ?  If  there  is  a  right 
under  the  constitution  for  that,  why  is  there  not  for  this  ?  What 
new  gloss  of  the  constitution,  or  the  resolutions  of  1798,  invests 
us  with  the  one  power,  and  deprives  us  of  the  other  ?  Political 
danger !  Is  there  less  political  danger  in  opening  a  passage 
through  a  foreign  country,  exposed  to  the  hostilities  of  an  armed 
people,  and  of  rival  nations,  than  in  peaceably  opening  a  passage 
through  our  own  possessions,  beyond  the  reach  of  foreign  powers, 
and  even  unobserved  by  them?  But^grant  that  a  railroad  can 
be  made  through  the  isthmus  of  Tehuantepec— i^aELyou  manage 
and  control  that  road,  as  you  demand  that  Mexico  shall  permit 
you  ,to  doy  without  ^vQvfnrainffT  sooner  or  1fl.tp>r1  MtVm  states  of 
Vera,  rims  and  OflT^a,  through  whiVh  i't  w1'11  pganE  Can  you  do 
that,  without  breaking  your  treaty  obligations  to  Mexico  ?  No, 
sir ;  the  national  power  which  controls  and  manages  that  road, 
with  only  the  small  states  of  Yera  Cruz  and  Oaxaca  on  the  route, 
will  soon  overcome  them.  If  you  take  those  two  states^  will  you 
^leave  the  remaining  twenty  states  of  Mexico  ?  Will  the  other 
twenty  consent  to  remain  out  of  the  American  nation,  when  you 
have  taken  the  two  principal  states,  and  have  cut  off  their  com- 
munications with  the  Caribbean  sea  and  the  Pacific  ocean?  Not 
(a  day.  Will  you  consent  that  anybody  else  shall  have  them ? 
Not  you.  Will  they  consent  that  anybody  else  shall  have  them  ? 
Not  they.     So  you  will  have  Mexico. 

Well,  before  you  conclude  upon  this  important  matter,  consider 
well  whether  you  have  settled  the  preliminaries,  and  prepared 
the  way  for  receiving  the  twenty-two  states  of  Mexico.  If  you 
have,  pray  enlighten  me.  Will  they  come  in  slave-states,  or  will 
they  come  in  ft^e^sJgJtes?__  Can  you  admit  them  as  slave-states ? 
Can  you  take  them  in  as  free-states  ?     Can  you  adjust  the  balance 


MEXICO  AND  THE  CONTINENTAL  RAILROAD.  655 

between  slavery  and  freedom  ?  If  not,  can  you  save  the  Union 
from  convulsion  ?  And  if  you  plunge  the  Union  into  convulsion, 
can  you  tell  me  whether  you  can  bring  us  out  in  safety  ?  Well, 
suppose  that  these  preliminaries. are  all  settled.  Those  states  can 
not  govern  themselves  now ;  can  they  govern  themselves  better 
after  they  are  annexed  to  the  United  States?  No.  Will  you 
govern  them  ?  Pray,  tell  me  how.  By  admitting  them  as 
equals,  or  by  proconsular  power  ?  If  the  one,  you  must  have  an 
army  perpetually  there  to  suppress  insurrection.  If  the  other, 
still  you  must  have  a  standing  army  in  the  provinces,  ultimately 
to  come  back  and  open  the  same  disastrous  drama  of  anarchy, 
civil  war,  desolation,  and  ruin  at  home,  which  the  armies  of 
Mexico  have  enacted  there.  If  you  bring  them  in  as  states,  have 
you  settled  the  question  whether  you  are  to  govern  them,  or 
whether  they  are  to  exercise  self-government,  and  so  govern  you? 
Have  you  reached  that  point  in  your  charity  that  you  will  be 
willing  to  be  governed  by  five  millions  of  Indians  in  Mexico? 

These  are  no  idle  questions.  They  are  coming  upon  us,  and  j 
they  will  be  here  when  Mexico,  exhausted  by  internal  factions, 
and  by  resistance  to  your  own  aggressions,  shall  implore  you  to 
give  her  rest,  and  peace,  and  safety,  by  admitting  her  to  your 
confederacy,  as  before  long,  in  any  event,  she  surely  must  and 
will  do.  That  time  is  coming  soon  enough  without  hastening_it 
Why  hasten  it?  You  answer  that  you  want  a  passage  across  the 
continent  by  way  of  Tehuantepec.  Have  you  not  more  passages 
already  across  your  own  domain  to  open,  than  you  can  open  in 
twenty-five  years  ?  Have  you  not  more  land  already  than  you 
can  people  in  fifty  years  ?  Have  you  not  more  gold  and  silver 
than  you  can  dig  in  a  hundred  years?  These  dangers  are  real, 
but  only  real  if  precipitated.  Time  will  speedily  fill  the  regions 
which  you  already  possess  with  a  homogeneous  population,  and 
homogeneous  states ;  yet  even  long  before  that  event,  so  soon  to 
arrive,  shall  have  come,  this  nation  will  have  acquired  such  mag- 
nitude, such  consistency,  such  strength,  such  unity,  such  empire, 
that  Mexico,  with  her  one  million  of  whites,  her  two  millions  of 
mixed  races,  and  her  five  millions  of  Aztecs  and  other  aboriginals, 
can  be  received  and  ahsorbed  without  disturbing  the  national 
harmony,  impairing  the  national  vigor,  or  even  checking,  for  a 
day,  the  national  progress. 

Wisdom,  justice,  and  magnanimity,  combine  in  recommending 


656  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

to  us  the  moderation,  the  forbearance,  the  pity,  which  Mexicor 
exhausted  by  efforts,  simple,  sincere,  and  earnest,  at  once  to  imi- 
tate our  political  virtues,  and  to  defend  herself  against  our  hostile 
encroachments,  so  touchingly  implores,  and  which  our  faith, 
plighted  amid  the  ruin  of  her  most  precious  hopes,  and  with 
compunctions  on  oar  part,  never  before,  and  nowhere  else  be- 
trayed in  our  diplomacy,  so  solemnly  enjoins. 

I  submit  the  following  as  a  substitute  for  the  resolutions  : — 

Strike  out  all  after  the  word  "Resolved"  and  insert: — 

That  the  United  States  can  not  suspend  diplomatic  negotiations  with  Mexico  without 
tendering  to  that  power,  or  waiting  a  reasonable  time  to  receive  from  it,  an  offer  of 
arbitration,  according  to  the  terms  of  the  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo. 


DUTY   ON   KAILROAD   IKON.* 

FEBRUARY   24,    18  5  3. 

Mb.  President:  I  regard  the  propositions  submitted  by  the 
senators  from  Illinois  and  Virginia  as  synonymous.  I  think  it 
requires  no  prophet  to  foresee  that,  to  suspend  the  duty  on  rail- 
road iron  for  three  years,  will  be  virtually  to  suspend  it  indefi- 
nitely— that  is,  to  repeal  it  altogether. 

When  I  consider  the  magnitude  of  this  subject,  I  am  struck 
with  surprise  at  the  circumstances  under  which  it  is  presented. 
It  amounts  to  no  less  than  this  —  to  a  derangement  of  the  entire 
fiscal  system  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  and  a  dis- 
turbance of  the  industry  of  the  country,  shaking  the  credit  and 
bringing  into  confusion  the  very  resources  of  the  government. 
And  under  what  circumstances  does  this  grave  question  come- 
before  the  senate?  Has  it  been  recommended  by  the  executive 
administration  ?  No.  Has  there  been  a  complaint  brought  be- 
fore Congress,  by  any  portion  of  the  American  people,  that  the 
present  system  is  erroneous,  and  requires  to  be  revised  or  modi- 
fied? Not  at  all.  Etas  any  committee  of  this  senate  recommend- 
ed such  a  change  ?  Not  one.  On  the  other  hand,  the  finance  com- 
mittee, which  had  recommended  it,  has  retreated  and  abandoned 
the  ground.     Who  is  it  that  brings  this  proposition  here  ?     And 

*  Speech  against  the  proposal  to  abolish  or  suspend  the  duty  on  foreign  railroad 
iron.  ■— 


DUTY  ON  RAILROAD  IRON.  657 

under  what  circumstances  and  in  what  manner  is  it  done?  It  is 
brought  before  the  senate  by  a  member  from  the  state  of  Vir- 
ginia, on  the  sole  ground  that  the  state  of  Virginia  has  instructed 
him  —  Virginia  alone,  one  of  the  thirty-one  states — Virginia  not 
seconded,  and  alone.  And  at  what  time  ?  Why,  in  the  very  last 
week,  and  in  the  very  last  hours  of  the  session  of  Congress,  when 
the  health,  the  patience,  and  the  capacity  of  the  members  have 
been  taxed  to  extreme  endurance,  we  are  brought  to  the  consid- 
eration of  a  question  which  can  not  be  disposed  of  safely,  not  to 
say  wisely,  without  carefully  examining  the  whole  fiscal  system 
of  the  government.  The  measure  before  us  proceeds  upon  the 
ground  that  we  have  gold  to  send  to  England  and  to  Russia  for 
iron ;  that  we  are  rich,  and  can  afford  to  ship  gold  to  buy  railroad 
iron,  leaving  our  own  iron  and  coal,  inexhaustible  as  they  are,  to 
rest  in  our  own  mines.  Sir,  there  was  a  king  once  who  was  as 
rich  in  proportion,  and  as  independent,  and  as  proud,  as  we  are. 
Croesus  was  that  king ;  and  when  a  barbarian  chief  came  to  see 
him  in  his  court,  he  displayed  his  treasures  before  the  amazed 
savage — glittering  heaps  of  bright  yellow  gold.  The  barbarian 
looked  upon  the  treasure,  and  said :  "  It  is  all  very  well ;  but 
whoever  comes  upon  you  with  better  iron  than  you  have,  will  be 
master  of  all  this  gold."     We  shall  find  it  so  in  the  end. 

Sir,  I  think  my  votes  have  shown  that  I  have  a  correct  appre- 
ciation of  the  great  advantages  to  the  United  States  which  have 
resulted  from  the  acquisition  of  the  gold  of  California.  But  if  I 
were  required  to  choose  to-day  between  the  wealth  that  slumbers 
in  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  colors  the  sands  in  the  bottoms  of  the 
streams  of  California,  and  the  iron  that  lies  in  the  unopened  mines 
of  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  New  York,  and  New  Jersey,  I  should 
decide,  promptly  decide,  at  once,  to  renounce  the  gold  and  save 
the  iron.  But  when  I  have  enumerated  these  states,  I  am  con- 
scious that  I  am  only  on  the  verge  of  the  iron  region  of  this  broad 
continent.  It  extends  through  Vermont,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Ten- 
nessee, Missouri,  and  Nebraska.  Sir,  we  are  making  iron  roads 
across  this  continent.  And  what  is  now  proposed  ?  It  jgjo^ bring 
the  iron  from  Englan5"~to  make  roads  over  the  iron  and  coal  beds. 
"77  the  Alleganie8,  and  of  Missouri,  and  our  western  territories. 
There  must  be  an  urgent  necessity  for  this,  or  the  senate  would 
not,  under  such  circumstances  as  these,  listen  to  a  proposition  so- 
novel  and  extraordinary,  so  contrary  to  all  our  settled  principles 

Vol.  III.— 42 


658  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

of  political  economy.  What,  then,  is  the  need  for  such  a  meas- 
ure? Is  it  that  your  revenues  are  already  too  great,  and  must 
be  diminished  ?  It  can  not  be  that,  because  you  have  never  be- 
fore either  appropriated  so  liberally,  or  had  occasion  to  appro- 
priate so  liberally,  for  the  great  objects  of  the  government.  You 
have  an  unpaid  debt  of  one  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  You 
have  got  a  new  and  vast  territory  to  fortify,  to  secure,  to  make 
fast.  It  is  the  whole  Pacific  shore,  as  yet  not  knit  fast,  not  even 
connected  with  the  middle  and  Atlantic  regions  of  our  country. 
You  have  not  only  to  build  customhouses  and  mints  there,  but 
you  want  also  docks,  fortifications,  and  increase  of  your  naval 
forces,  harbor  defences,  and  everything  that  belongs  to  national 
power,  in  California  and  Oregon.  And  you  want  not  only  this, 
but  also  an  increase  of  the  strength  of  the  military  arm  to  fulfil 
your  treaty  stipulations  with  Mexico,  and  protect  that  unfortu- 
nate country  from  the  depredations  of  savages  within  our  own 
unexplored  wilderness.  And  while  you  want  all  these  things  ex- 
terior to  the  defences  of  the  old  states,  what  are  you  doing  else- 
where ?  You  are  exploring  the  rivers  of  South  America  and  the 
shoals  of  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  opening  the  ports  of  China  and 
Japan.  And,  together  with  these  mighty  enterprises,  what  are 
you  doing  here  ?  You  are  enlarging  to  twice  their  present  capa- 
city the  dimensions  of  the  capitol  and  the  patent-office  —  laying 
out  streets  and  squares,  and  building  statues  and  monuments.  You 
are  supplying  the  capital,  as  you  ought  to  do,  with  pure  and 
wholesome  water,  and  with  light ;  and  are  embellishing  it  to  ren- 
der it  worthy  a  great  nation  and  a  refined  people.  No  one  has 
proposed  —  indeed,  it  is  the  furthest  possible  from  the  idea  of  any 
gentleman  in  this  chamber  to  propose  —  to  reduce  the  appropria- 
tions. You  even  multiply  and  increase  salaries  and  pensions. 
The  appropriations  ought  not  to  be  reduced,  and  can  not  be  re- 
duced. But,  strange  to  say,  while  you  are  increasing  appropria- 
tions largely  —  profusely  —  many  will  think  wantonly  —  you  are 
at  the  same  moment  diminishing  the  revenue  which  supplies 
them.  Well,  have  you  ascertained  whether  this  diminution  will 
bear  a  just  and  proper  proportion  to  your  expenses,  so  that  you 
will  be  able  to  carry  on  the  great  and  munificent  enterprises  of 
the  government?  If  you  have,  I  pray  you  to  enlighten  me. 
Who  will  tell  me  how  much  this  remission  of  the  duties  on  rail- 
road iron  will  diminish  the  revenues  of  the  government  ?     No 


DUTY  ON  RAILROAD  IRON. 


659 


man  can  answer  whether  it  will  reduce  them  one,  two,  or  three, 
or  five  millions  a  year.  According  to  the  best  judgment  I  can 
form,  and  according  to  the  experience  we  have  had  heretofore, 
we  are  to  have  a  reduction  of  the  revenue  of  the  government,  by 
an  amount  of  three  millions  a  year,  for  so  long  a  period  as  this 
remission  of  duties  shall  continue.  If  you  can  dispense  with 
three  millions  of  revenue,  come  up  to  the  actual  relief  of  the 
people,  and  surrender  the  public  domain  from  which  you  exclude 
actual  settlers,  except  they  pay  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  an  acre, 
and  which  yet  even  with  that  tax  yields  less  than  the  three  mil- 
lions which  you  are  striking  off  by  this  measure. 

Now,  unless  you  are  going  to  diminish  the  amount  of  appro- 
priations also  —  and  I  have  shown  that  you  are  not  going  to  do 
it — you  can  not  wisely  adopt  this  proposition,  unless  you  have 
some  other  source  of  revenue  to  replace  what  has  been  dispensed 
with.  And  what  will  you  tax  in  the  place  of  foreign  iron  ?  What 
else  can  you  tax  if  you  can  not  tax  that  manufacture  and  that 
mineral  production  of  a  foreign  country  which  is  at  once  most 
abundant  and  most  necessary  in  your  own  ? 

I  agree  with  the  senator  from  Pennsylvania.  I  can  understand 
the'  proposition  of  free-trade.     It  is  an  intelligible  'theory,  and  at 


some  future  periolt7?oawnthe  vista  of  years,  it  is  probable  that  the 
world  will  come  to  understand  that  universal  free  trade  is  the 
wisest  and  most  beneficent  sys^rn  of  fiscal  administration  for  any 

o  far  as  that  forms 

Kds,  I  hail  the  intro- 

40  not  one  only  but 

but  direct  taxation 

ton  those  who  sup- 

apon  that  principle 

liig  in  a  bill  for  direct 

evenues  surrendered. 

that  it  is  a  spurious 

jU  upon  the  introduc- 

f\  either  retrenchment 

two  things — in  the 

v| ■■of  the  strength  and 

I  l|n  railroad  iron.     It 
,L|  to  which  I  have  al- 


660  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

luded,  that  it  disturbs  the  general  adjustment  of  the  revenues 
upon  all  the  business  interests  of  the  country.  In  other  words  it 
is  unequal — therefore  partial  and  unjust.  The  burden  hf  the 
measure  must  fall  upon  a  few  states,  and  upon  a  few  citizens  in 
those  states — upon  a  single  class  of  laborers,  and  upon  capital 
invested  in  a  single  enterprise.  What !  Are  you  going  to  strike 
off  three  millions  of  the  sixty  millions  of  revenue  at  the  cost  of 
two  or  three  states,  and  at  the  cost  of  one  class  of  laborers,  and 
at  the  cost  of  capital  invested  in  a  single  enterprise.  Who  will 
justify  that?  To  me  this  question  is  as  indifferent  as  to  any 
other  senator  here ;  for,  whatever  you  do  to  favor  railroad  capi- 
tal and  enterprise,  will  benefit  my  constituents  on  Manhattan 
island,  and  throughout  all  the  commercial  towns  and  cities,  and 
more  directly  in  New  York.  Whatever  you  do  to  stifle  manu- 
facture, and  quicken  commerce  at  its  expense,  that  will  inure 
more  directly  to  the  benefit  of  the  state  which  I  represent,  than 
to  the  benefit  of  any  one  of  the  states  of  other  senators  who  may 
vote  for  it.  The  city  of  New  York  will  bring  in  all  your  iron,, 
and  will  have  all  the  profits  upon  the  purchase,  and  the  shipping 
of  it,  and  not  one  of  the  hundred  dealings  and  transactions  in 
foreign  iron,  which  will  intervene  before  it  is  fastened  down  on 
the  railroad,  will  fail  to  pay  a  profit  to  the  New  York  capitalist 
broker,  carman,  or  merchant.  We,  therefore,  with  but  little  cap- 
ital invested  in  iron  production  and  manufacture,  and  with  our 
capital  chiefly  invested  in  commerce,  will  have  the  first  and 
greatest  benefit  of  this  measure.  But  although  this  considera- 
tion occurs  to  me  to  reconcile  me  as  readily  as  any  one  to  what 
is  proposed,  I  can  not  conceive  it  possible  that  any  man  would 
ask  me  to  vote  to  strike  off  three  millions  of  revenue,  at  the  cost 
of  the  manufacturer  of  railroad  iron,  without  expecting  that  I 
would  in  reply  ask  him  why  not  strike  it  off  from  other  iron, 
from  iron  imported  in  some  other  form  or  for  other  useful  pur- 
poses, from  iron  used  in  the  manufacture  of  spades,  hoes,  ploughs, 
nails,  ship-building,  cotton,  woollen,  and  sugar  manufactories, 
bridges,  and  public  as  well  as  private  architecture. 

Sir,  no  one  will  propose  to  strike  off  the  duty  which  is  imposed 
upon  the  iron  that  is  imported  for  such  purposes  as  I  have  men- 
tioned, as  well  as  for  making  those  articles,  with  which  the  in- 
genious mechanic  and  the  plain  country  smith  supplies  the  family 
and  farming  wants  of  society.     Every  one  here  would  be  ashamed 


DUTY  ON  RAILROAD  IRON.  661 

to  propose  that,  for  the  same  reason  that  I  am  ashamed  and  mor- 
tified when  a  foreigner  comes  to  my  table  and  I  am  obliged  to 
own  that  the  shovel  and  tongs,  and  the  andirons  at  my  fireplace, 
and  the  knives  and  forks  on  my  table,  and  everything  else  he  sees 
and  touches,  whether  for  use  or  ornament,  is  made  by  the  foreign 
mechanic  and  artisan,  to  the  prejudice  of  labor,  industry,  and 
art,  in  my  own  country.  But  I  think  it  is  far  deeper  reproach 
•against  our  national  pride,  spirit,  and  patriotism,  that  we  should 
bring  iron  from  abroad  to  make  roads  over  our  own  ore  beds ; 
and  thus  with  plenty  of  labor,  plenty  of  money,  plenty  of  iron, 
and  plenty  of  coal,  yield  ourselves  up  to  dependence,  not  only 
upon  foreign  money,  but  foreign  enterprise,  genius,  and  skill.  I 
am  shocked  by  such  a  want  of  nationality.  What  is  the  reason 
•of  it?  We  want  cheap  iron.  Well,  what  is  the  reason  that  iron 
is  dear?  Because  the  demand  is  great  and  supply  small.  Why 
is  the  supply  small  ?  Because  you  have  suspended  manufacture 
here  for  seven  years.  Now,  the  manufacture  is  recovering  in 
spite  of  you.  Leave  it  alone.  It  will  regulate  itself.  Capital 
and  labor  and  genius  are  erecting  the  forges  and  kindling  the 
fires,  the  ore  and  coal-beds  are  giving  up  their  treasures.  You 
will  soon  enough  have  railroad  iron  abundant  and  cheap.  It  is 
only  a  question  whether  capital  shall  build  the  workshops  and 
employ  the  laborers  and  artisans  in  Pennsylvania,  in  Maryland, 
in  New  Jersey,  in  Tennessee,  in  New  York,  or  whether  the  work- 
shop shall  be  erected  and  employ  laborers  and  artisans  on  the 
other  side  of  the  ocean.  All  your  legislation  is  entirely  unne- 
cessary, for  where  there  is  an  incessant  demand  there  will  be  a 
repletion,  and  repletion  will  be  followed  by  the  exhaustion  which 
will  result  in  an  increase  of  the  manufacture  until  the  supply  is 
adequate  to  the  consumption. 

I  have  adverted  to  the  circumstance  that  you  discriminate 
against  the  capitalists  and  laborers  who  are  engaged  in  producing 
and  manufacturing  railroad  iron,  while  you  leave  untouched  the 
capital  and  the  labor  which  are  employed  in  the  production  and 
manufacture  of  iron  for  other  articles  of  consumption.  But  can 
any  man  tell  me  what  reason  there  is  why  Pennsylvania,  and 
Missouri,  and  New  Jersey,  and  Tennessee,  should  bear  the  cost 
of  this  great  reduction  of  $3,000,000  in  your  revenue,  while  Lou- 
isiana shall  remain  protected  in  her  sugar  production  and  manu- 
facture.    But  I  will  not  be  invidious  toward  a  production  of 


662  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

agriculture  in  southern  8tates.  Can  you  tell  me  the  reason  why 
you  still  keep  up  your  duty  upon  the  manufacture  of  wool  and 
cotton,  and  single  out  this  one  iron  interest  and  iron  labor?  The 
reason  is,  that  just  now  the  railroad  kings  want  iron.  Iron- 
mongers have  rights,  indeed,  but  these  rights  must  give  way. 
They  are  the  weaker  power. 

The  manufacture  of  railroad  iron  is  exceedingly  expensive. 
Large  investments  are  necessarily  made.  Vast  establishments, 
but,  nevertheless,  such  as  were  necessary,  were  built  some  years 
ago,  and  were  just  put  into  successful  operation  when  the  plethora 
in  the  iron-market  in  Europe  made  such  a  reduction  in  the  price, 
as  to  deprive  the  American  capitalists  and  American  laborers  of 
fair  rewards.  That  has  continued  until  just  now.  During  all 
this  period  the  capitalists  and  the  laborers  who  have  been  engaged 
in  this  business,  have  been  appealing  to  Congress  at  every  ses- 
sion, and  at  every  day  of  every  session,  to  give  them  protection 
against  the  foreign  manufacturers.  A  deaf  ear  has  been  constantly 
turned  to  them  by  Congress,  and  they  have  been  left  to  struggle 
with  the  foreign  manufacturers,  as  they  could  until  now,  when, 
without  the  interposition  of  Congress,  a  favorable  change  of  prices 
has  come,  and  they  have  just  now  begun  to  repair  their  forges,  to 
open  anew  their  mines,  to  begin  anew  the  process  of  mining 
industry.  It  is  at  this  juncture,  and  just  as  the  cup,  which  by 
their  own  efforts  they  have  grasped  and  borne  upward,  has 
reached  their  lips,  that  Congress  is  invoked  to  interpose  and  dash 
it  to  the  ground.  What  is  there  in  the  character  of  these  miners, 
and  these  capitalists,  and  these  laborers,  that  they,  of  all  others, 
should  be  singled  out  for  such  peculiar,  such  severe,  such  dis- 
criminating injustice  ?  I  see  nothing.  Look  at  what  this  branch 
of  industry  contributes  to  the  public  wealth.  It  is,  next  after 
agriculture,  the  most  essential  element  of  wealth.  Sir,  there 
have  been  many  countries  which  have  been  impoverished  by 
mining  in  gold  and  silver,  because  they  ran  a  rapid  career  of 
commerce,  passing  through  improvidence  and  luxury  into  na- 
tional decline :  but  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  this  day, 
there  never  was  a  nation  that  was  not  strong,  energetic,  pros- 
perous, and  long-lived,  that  drew  its  wealth  from  its  iron  mines. 

I  wish  now  to  address  a  word  of  caution  to  those  who  think 
they  have  no  particular  interest  in  this  question,  but  who  have 
an  interest  in  other  departments  of  the  national  industry.     We 


DUTY  ON  RAILROAD  IRON.  663 

all  know  the  history  of  the  tariffs  of  1842  and  1846  ;  the  history 
of  the  system  of  revenue  upon  imports  in  this  country.  "We 
know  that  it  requires  the  co-operation,  the  concerted  action  of  all 
the  industrial  classes,  and  of  capitalists  of  every  description,  to 
adjust  and  render  equal,  and  to  procure  the  establishment  of  a 
system  of  imposts,  with  any  view  whatever,  direct  or  indirect,  to 
the  protection  and  encouragement  of  American  industry.  We 
who  were  for  protecting  iron,  have  stood  by  the  Vermont  farmer 
in  protecting  wool,  and  the  Massachusetts  manufacturer  in  pro- 
tecting the  manufacture  of  cotton  and  wool.  We  have  stood  by 
the  cotton-planter  in  the  manufacture  of  cotton,  and  we  have 
stood  by  the  sugar-producer  in  protecting  him  against  the  com- 
petition of  other  sugar-growing  regions. 

jytr^J^residenL  the  whole  manufacturing  interest  of  the  country 
is  in  danger ;  and  it  is  in  danger  because  we,  who  are  its  friends,, 
are  demoralized  aliH^divmeB^  Your  railroad-men  have  come  and 
whispered  in  the  ear  of  the  cotton-producer,  and  cotton  and 
woollen  manufacturer,  "  We  will  just  make  a  small  sacrifice  of 
the  iron  in  the  mines  in  Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  and  it  will 
not  affect  you  in  the  least ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  you  will  be 
all  the  better,  and  all  the  stronger.  Duties  on  other  imports 
must  continue."  Mr.  President,  if  this  is  what  they  do  in  "  the 
green  tree,"  under  the  auspices  of  the  specious  doctrines  of  free- 
trade  just  coming  in  with  the  next  administration,  I  will  tell  you 
what  they  will  do  in  "  the  dry."  In  the  very  next  session  of 
Congress  they  will  come  with  arguments  equally  insidious,  and 
equally  forcible,  and  then  the  manufacturers  of  Lowell  may  look 
to  the  safety  of  their  spindles,  and  the  sugar  and  the  cotton 
growers  of  the  south  may  look  to  the  safety  of  their  sugar  and 
their  cotton  fields ;  and  the  wheat-grower  of  Maryland,  and  the 
corn-grower  of  Ohio  and  Illinois,  may  look  to  the  safety  of  their 
respective  interests.  We  have  no  monopoly  of  iron ;  therefore, 
gentlemen  may  think  we  can  import  iron.  Why,  sir,  we  have 
no  monopoly  of  gold  ;  and  it  is  yet  to  be  seen  whether  gold  will 
not  be  produced  more  abundantly  and  more  cheaply  in  Australia 
than  in  California;  and  then,  as  labor  is  cheaper  there,  and  so- 
ciety is  organized  there  upon  principles  of  greater  economy,  and 
there  is  access  from  Australia  more  directly  to  India  and  China, 
than  there  is  from  the  shores  of  California,  I  ask,  who  is  there 
here  who  would  be  willing  to  let  the  gold  remain  undisturbed  in 


664:  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

California,  because  gold  will  be  purchased  cheaper  in  Australia  ? 
The  principle  is  precisely  the  same.  The  sacrifice  of  golden 
revenue  would  be  even  less  ruinous  than  that  of  our  wealth  in 
iron. 

Mr.  President,  it  is  hard,  at  least  for  the  capitalist  and  the 
laborer,  to  pay  for  the  support  of  this  great  and  expensive  govern- 
ment—  a  government  which  extends  itself  broader  and  broader, 
and  at  an  ever-increasing  expense,  across  this  continent,  and 
grasps,  if  not  domain,  influence  and  power  throughout  both 
hemispheres.  It  is  only  just  to  them  that  they  should  be  con- 
sulted, and  have  notice  that  you  are  going  to  adopt  any  measures 
which  may  seriously  affect  their  interests ;  and  what  do  we  say 
here  ?  Has  any  notice  been  given  ?  Has  any  alarm  been  sounded 
from  this  capitol  during  the  three  months  we  have  been  in  session 
here,  to  the  miner  in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  and  in  New 
Jersey  and  Tennessee,  giving  him  notice  that  the  government 
was  going,  by  one  speedy,  direct  act,  to  suppress  the  branch  of 
industry  in  which  he  is  engaged  ?  So,  I  say  that  the  country 
is  taken  by  surprise  by  this  measure ;  all  the  persons  engaged  in 
this  branch  of  industry  are  to  be  taken  by  surprise. 

But  again,  do  we  suppose  that  we  can  disturb  so  great  an 
interest  as  this,  and  leave  other  interests  unaffected  ?  I  am  sure 
that  I  am  as  liberal  to  the  new  states  as  any  one,  but  I  warn 
gentlemen  of  the  old  states  that  this  is  the  beginning  of  a  system 
which  is,  if  pursued,  to  resuhTrelativfily  jp  depopulating  the  ohL 
states,  in  depriving  them  of  their  capital  and  industry,  and  build- 
ing-up the  intermediate  and  western  communities  at  their 
jjxjDejisja.  It  will  discharge  I  do  not  know  how  many  thousands 
of  the  manufacturers  of  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  and  what 
will  they  do  ?  Where  will  they  go  ?  Will  they  stay  in  Pennsyl- 
vania to  till  the  rugged  surface  of  the  mountain,  when  they  are 
excluded  from  the  mines  which  lie  beneath  that  surface  ?  No, 
sir.  They  must  go  west  to  make  railroads,  and  to  dig  for  gold  in 
California ;  and  when  they  have  gone,  their  places  will  not  be 
'supplied.  The  foreign  laborer  comes  here,  and  he  only  touches  at 
*the  gate,  and  then  marches  on  to  make  railroads,  and  to  dig  gold 
on  tjie  shore  of  the  Pacific ;  and  when  the  foreign  and  domestic 
laborer,  and  their  capital,  have  been  put  in  motion,  making  rail- 
roads, and  digging  gold  in  California,  the  farmers  follow  them, 
md  the  prices  of  agricultural  productions  diminish.     You  build 


DUTY  ON  RAILROAD  IRON.  665 

up  the  west  to  an  unnatural  growth.  Every  vote  which  I  have 
given  here  upon  western  interests,  has  shown  that  it  has  been 
grv^nlipoirilie"  'principle  of  encouraging  the  speediest  possible 
settlement  of  the  great  western  domain,  at  every  hazard  and  cost, 

"common  to  the  whole    conn  try ,  not  prgpTrh>in.l    tn  any  Qp  e  part" 

But  that  growth,  desirable  as  it  is,  must  be  one  that  is  regulated 
in  harmony  with  the  interests  of  the  Atlantic  states ;  and  it  is 
certain,  that  just  as  sure  as  you  stimulate  it  to  an  excessive  and 
more  rapid  growth,  by  affecting  the  vigor  of  the  old  states,  just 
so  sure  that  growth  becomes  sickly,  and  will  result  in  the  decline, 
not  only  of  the  east,  but  also  of  the  west,  and  throughout  the 
nation.  The  Atlantic  states  are  the  base  upon  which  we  must 
erect  this  great  superstructure  of  empire  in  the  west.  We  must 
make  the  base  firm,  solid,  broad,  perpetual,  if  we  would  have  a 
structure  which  shall  be  endurable. 

I  ask,  now,  what  is  the  apology  for  this  extraordinary  meas- 
ure ?  It  is  that  it  will  encourage  the  making  of  railroads.  Sir,  I 
have  spent  my  life,  what  there  has  been  of  it  spent  in  public 
action,  in  encouraging  the  making  of  canals  and  railroads.  I  anx 
a  frjend^to  canals  and  railroadsj__but  I  show  my  fidelity  to  them 
in  adhering  to  them  when  they  are  unpopular  and  need  help,  and 
support,  and  patronage,  and  not  when  tney  have  patronage  so 
jrr*at  fllP  tn  ho  alarming  for  its  effect,  not  only  upon  enterprises" 
of  that  class,  but  upon  the  country  itself.  •  Do  you  know  how 
many  railroads  you  are  making  ?  You  are  making  twelve  thou- 
sand miles  of  railroads  in  the  United  States  already.  You  are 
making  them  so  fast,  that  you  do  not  rely  upon  your  own  re- 
sources for  making  them  at  all,  but  you  are  selling  the  credit  of 
individuals,  towns,  counties,  and  states,  throughout  the  Union,  in 
untold  amounts,  and  constituting  an  aggregate  debt  greater  than 
.any  amount  which  any  man  ever  presumed  it  would  be  safe  for 
this  country  to  owe  to  foreign  countries.  Your  railroads  are  not 
now  made  chiefly  by  subscriptions  to  their  stock.  There  are 
small  substratum,  subscriptions,  then  mortgages  on  the  road,  then 
second  mortgages,  then  third  mortgages,  until  the  credit  of  whole 
communities  is  pledged,  and  pledged  to  English  capitalists. 

We  are  pledged  in  London  for  the  cost  of  nearly  all  our  rail- 
roads. Our  capital  is  being  diverted,  so  that  there  is  no  place  in 
the  Unjted  States  where  there  is  not  a  railroad  hein^r  made. 

There  are  already  half  a  dozen  railroads  from  the  point  of  Lake 


666  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

Erie  to  the  city  of  New  York,  all  converging  there,  because  rail- 
roads have  become  popular  and  profitable.  So  it  is  throughout 
New  England  and  throughout  the  west.  Now  it  is  not  possible 
that  the  railroad  enterprise  in  this  country  can  absorb  capital  in 
an  exclusive  degree  without  producing  an  injury,  not  only  to 
that  enterprise  and  those  subservient  to  it,  but  also  injurious  to 
other  enterprises  which  increase  the  vigor  and  promote  the  prog- 
ress of  the  country.  Does  any  man  doubt  it  ?  What  did  we  do 
ten  years  ago,  when  we  embarked  in  building  canals  and  rail- 
roads so  deeply,  and  pledged  our  credit  so  far,  that  the  construc- 
tion of  every  canal  and  railroad  had  to  be  suspended?  What 
happened  in  England  on  a  like  occasion,  but  that  a  great  railroad- 
king  projected  railroads  all  over  the  island,  and  so  much  capital 
was  invested  in  them,  that  all  at  once  the  bubble  was  pricked,, 
and  the  whole  enterprise  collapsed,  bringing  on  general  stagna- 
tion and  bankruptcy?  This  is  the  tendency  of  things  here  now. 
I  am  not  by  habit  a  croaker;  but  I  can  see  that,  unless  the  na- 
tional go v e rnment  shall  act  so  as  to  restrain  rather  than  encour- 
age ancTstimulate  this  excessive  spirit  of  speculation  in  railroad 
investments,  just  such  a  collapse  will  happen  here.  Railroads 
[o  not  need  protectioiijiTonjjmanufocturers  do  need  it.  xnrougli 
tnetowri LiW'^Tufhi live,  and  the  to^wnsaoyacentpniepeople,  car- 
ried away  by  railroad  enthusiasm,  have  applied  to  the  legislature 
for  permission  to  mortgage  their  whole  property  for  the  making 
of  railroads ;  and  yet  there  is  not  one  railroad  which  they  are 
thus  making,  in  which  foreign  capitalists  will  invest  a  dollar,  ex- 
cept they  have  collateral,  personal,  or  public  security.  But  you 
will  tell  me  that  Congress  has  not  encouraged  railroads.  Con- 
gress has  already  encouraged  railroads  by  donations  of  duties  on 
foreign  railroad  iron  exceeding  the  sum  of  three  millions  of  dol- 
lars. Congress  has  already,  with  almost  a  unanimous  vote  in  this 
chamber,  given  to  every  western  state  land  enough  from  the  pub- 
lic domain  —  as  much  as  they  said  was  necessary  —  to  construct 
a  web  of  railroads  now  in  progress  and  advancing  to  its  comple- 
tion, covering  over  the  whole  of  the  territories  of  the  United 
States  from  the  shores  of  the  Atlantic  to  the  Mississippi  river,, 
and  even  crossing  that  broad  line,  and  advancing  precisely  upon 
the  same  system  and  same  policy  toward  the  base  of  the  Rocky 
mountains.  We  have  done  enough,  unless  we  have  some  other 
resources  —  some  other  revenues  which  we  can  apply  to  this  great 


TEXAS  AND  HER  CREDITORS.  667 

and  beneficent  enterprise  of  the  age ;  and  we  have  no  other,  if 
the  only  other  one  is  the  sacrifice  of  the  mining  interest  of  iron 
in  the  old  Atlantic  states.  Sir,  I  have  voted  land  by  the  square 
leagug_across  the  continent,  andtwenty  millions  of  dollars  out 
of  the  public  treasury  for  railroads.  I  will  not  vote  one  dollar 
"outofrtieiron-mine8  of  my  country,  at  the  cost  of  tnTowneiv 
and  of  the  miner  who  ltlmgageOm  drawing  its  wealth  to  the 
surface. 


TEXAS   AND   HER   CREDITORS. 

MARCH    2,    185  3. 

Mr.  President  :  At  the  epoch  of  annexation,  1845,  the  republic 
of  Texas  possessed  some  property  in  public  defences,  a  large  do- 
main of  unappropriated  land,  and  revenues  derived  from  customs- 
It  owed  a  considerable  debt  which  had  been  incurred  in  estab- 
lishing independence  and  organizing  civil  government.  That 
debt  was  divided  into  two  classes :  first,  what  has  been  called  a 
domestic  debt,  not  distinctly  charged  on  the  revenues  from  cus- 
toms ;  second,  what  was  secured  to  creditors  by  a  pledge  of  those 
revenues. 

Texas  came  into  the  Union  as  a  state,  under  stipulations  con- 
cerning her  property  and  debts,  namely :  She  ceded  to  the  Uni- 
ted States  all  public  edifices,  fortifications,  and  other  property,, 
pertaining  to  the  public  defence.  She  retained  all  her  funds,  and 
all  of  her  public  domain,  but  under  a  covenant  that  it  should  be 
applied  to  the  payment  of  her  debts,  with  the  absolute  right  to 
any  surplus ;  and  it  was  agreed  that  in  no  event  should  those 
debts  become  a  charge  on  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
Thus  did.  the  United  States,  in  the  very  act  of  union  with  Texas, 
bind  her  to  pay  her  creditors,  at  least  as  far  as  her  domain  would 
furnish  resources  for  that  purpose. 

In  1850,  five  years  after  the  annexation  of  Texas  to  the  United 
States,  all  those  debts  remained  unpaid ;  and,  adding  interest 
thereto,  they  stood,  on  the  1st  of  July  in  that  year,  as  follows:  — 

Domeetie  debt $4,138, 733  80 

Debts  secured  by  customs  pledged  8,293,94*7  52 

Total $1 2,432,681  32 


668  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

During  that  intervening  period,  there  had  been  war  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexico,  which  had  resulted  in  the  annex- 
ation, by  conquest  and  purchase,  of  New  Mexico,  a  state  adjacent 
to  Texas.  A  border  dispute  existed  between  those  states,  and  it 
was  supposed  by  Congress  necessary  to  adjust  that  dispute,  in 
order  to  restore  civil  government  in  New  Mexico,  and  even  to 
prevent  armed  collision  between  Texas  and  the  military  force  of 
the  United  States,  which,  it  was  apprehended,  might  terminate 
in  a  general  civil  war,  subversive  even  of  the  union  of  the 
-states. 

In  the  midst  of  this  dispute  the  creditors  of  Texas  appeared 
liere,  and  urged  the  settlement  of  their  claims  as  a  condition  of 
the  proposed  adjustment.  They  pleaded  that  the  United  States 
had  become  liable  for  those  debts,  by  absorbing  the  sovereignty 
of  Texas,  and  that  at  least  they  had  become  liable  for  them  to  the 
extent  of  the  value  of  the  revenues  accruing  from  imposts  which, 
although  they  had  been  specifically  pledged  to  the  creditors,  had 
been  diverted  into  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  by  the  act 
of  annexation.  Thus  the  debt  of  Texas  became  an  element  of 
the  controversy  which  Congress  undertook  to  settle  in  1850.  Con- 
gress settled  it  by  compromise  :  — 

1.  Texas  ceded  her  claim  to  some  of  the  lands  before  insisted 
on,  and  accommodated  her  boundary  to  the  demands  of  the  Uni- 
ted States. 

2.  Texas  relinquished  all  claim  upon  the  United  States  for  the 
debts  of  Texas,  and  all  other  claims  for  indemnity. 

3.  In  consideration  of  these  concessions,  the  United  States  stip- 
ulated to  pay  ten  millions  of  dollars  to  Texas,  in  five  per  cent, 
stock  of  fourteen  years.     But  — 

4.  It  was  stipulated  that  the  United  States  should  not  pay  to 
Texas  more  than  five  millions  of  dollars  of  said  ten  millions  until 
the  creditors,  who  had  taken  pledges  of  her  revenues  from  cus- 
toms, should  have  filed  releases  of  all  their  claims  against  Texas 
with  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States. 

Thus  it  appears  that  there  were  three  parties  to  this  compro- 
mise—  the  United  States,  Texas,  and  the  creditors  of  Texas.  The 
United  States  and  Texas  bound  themselves  then.  The  consent 
of  creditors,  whose  debts  were  secured  by  customs,  although  post- 
poned, was  nevertheless  necessary;  and  so  they  were  a  third 
party,  whose  consent  was  afterward  to  be  given  by  releases.    The 


TEXAS  AND  HER  CREDITORS.  66fr 

domestic  creditors,  who  had  no  specific  lien,  and  in  whose  behalf 
the  United  States  made  no  stipulation,  were  dismissed  to  the  jus- 
tice of  Texas  alone,  and  they  disappeared  at  once  and  for  ever 
from  this  capital. 

This  is  the  starting-point  in  the  present  case.  It  is  manifest 
that  it  was  a  cardinal  object  and  design  of  that  compromise  that 
the  creditors  of  Texas,  whose  debts  were  secured  by  pledges  of 
the  customs,  should  be  satisfied  by  the  extinguishment  of  their 
claims.  The  way  in  which  it  was  to  be  done  was  by  making  that 
extinguishment,  through  the  agency  of  Texas,  a  condition  prece- 
dent of  the  payment  to  her  of  the  last  half  of  the  ten  millions  of 
dollars. 

It  is  manifest  also,  now,  that  the  compromise  had  inherent  de- 
fects, which  were  these,  viz. :  — 

1.  That  it  did  not  ascertain  and  fix  the  amount  which  was  to 
be  paid  to  the  creditors. 

2.  That  it  left  that  amount  open  to  dispute  between  Texas  and 
the  creditors  thus  preferred. 

Nevertheless,  the  ascertaining  and  establishing  this  amount 
was  indispensable  to  the  execution  of  the  compromise.  The  Uni- 
ted States  were  obliged  to  ascertain  it  before  they  could  pay  the 
five  millions ;  and  Texas  was  obliged  to  ascertain  it,  and  see  it 
extinguished,  before  she  could  demand  the  last  five  millions. 

Each  party,  therefore,  undertook  to  ascertain  and  fix  the 
amount. 

Texas  has  ascertained  and  fixed  it  at $3,355,360  25 

Which  would  leave  to  Texas  of  the  five  millions 1,644,639  75 

On  the  other  hand,  the  United  States  have  ascertained  and 

fixed  the  amount  at 8,293,947  52 

A  sum  exceeding  the  five  millions  reserved  for  those  cred- 
itors by 8,293,947  52 

And  exceeding  the  sum  at  which  it  is  fixed  by  Texas  by. .  4,938,587  27 

It  is  manifest,  also,  that  Texas  holds  the  initiative  in  the  action 
necessary  to  carry  the  compromise  into  effect.  She  must  see 
that  her  creditors  release  herself  and  the  United  States.  More- 
over, not  only  can  not  the  United  States  pay  all  the  creditors  thus 
secured,  but  they  can  not  pay  any  until  all  of  them  shall,  by  the 
agency  of  Texas,  have  been  brought  to  file  releases.  This  dis- 
pute, full  of  loss  and  damage  to  the  creditors,  and  of  irritation 
between  the  United  States  and  Texas,  is  now  two  years  old.  The 
debt  to  the  creditors  grows  chiefly  at  the  rate  of  ten  per  cent.,. 


670  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

while  the  fund  is  in  the  treasury,  drawing  an  interest  against  the 
United  States  of  five  per  cent.  It  is  manifest  now  that  it  is  time, 
high  time,  that  the  controversy  should  be  settled,  and  the  com- 
promise carried  into  effect.  It  is  equally  clear  that  unless  Con- 
gress shall  intervene,  it  will  not  be  settled  for  an  indefinite  period. 

The  committee  on  finance  proposes  a  plan  of  settlement,  which 
is,  that  in  lieu  of  the  five  millions  of  five  per  cent,  of  fourteen 
years,  the  United  States  shall  issue  stock  to  the  amount  of 
$8,333,333  33,  at  three  per  cent.,  redeemable  in  twenty  years, 
and  deliver  it  to  the  creditors,  taking  assignments  for  their  claims 
(the  small  excess  of  their  claims  being  paid  in  money  at  the 
treasury),  and  that  the  United  States  shall  hold  the  assigned  claims 
as  a  bar  to  the  claim  of  Texas  for  these  five  millions. 

I.  I  consider  this  plan  commended  by  its  convenience. 

1.  In  the  first  place,  the  creditors  of  Texas,  for  whose  protec- 
tion the  United  States,  with  her  own  consent,  has  intervened, 
will  be  promptly  paid.  Their  claims  will  be  extinguished,  and 
this  is  a  cardinal  point. 

2.  The  whole  claim  of  Texas  on  the  United  States,  under  the 
compromise  of  1850,  will  be  virtually  paid,  which  is  another 
cardinal  point. 

In  any  event,  and  by  her  own  showing,  Texas  will  be  paid  to 
within  the  sum  of  $1,164,639  75.  The  difference  which  will 
remain  to  be  adjusted,  if  any,  will  be  one  between  the  United 
States  and  Texas,  which  will  involve  no  injustice  to  individ- 
uals—  another  cardinal  point. 

3.  The  expense  to  the  United  States  will  not  be  materially 
increased.  The  interest  of  five  millions  at  five  per  cent.,  and  of 
$8,333,333  at  three  per  cent.,  are  equal.  There  will  be  still  the 
difference  of  $3,333,333  between  the  principal  sums,  to  be  borne 
by  the  treasury.  But  we  have  now,  and,  for  some  time  to  come, 
are  likely  to  have,  a  surplus  in  the  treasury,  and  so  can  buy  up 
this  eight  millions ;  or,  if  you  please,  the  whole  thirteen  millions 
in  one  or  two  years,  and  so  indemnify  ourselves,  in  a  great  meas- 
ure, for  the  additional  sum  advanced  to  settle  the  controversy. 

II.  I  consider  the  plan,  in  the  next  place,  commended  by  its 
harmony  with  the  principles  of  the  compromise  of  1850. 

The  United  States,  by  that  compromise,  assumed  to  guaranty 
ample  satisfaction  to  the  creditors  in  question.  The  sum  appro- 
priated (five  millions  of  dollars)  was  appropriated  because  it  was 


TEXAS  AND  HER  CREDITORS.  671 

thought  adequate  to  that  object.  The  United  States  would  then 
have  appropriated  eight  millions  of  dollars,  if  it  had  been  under- 
stood that  the  debts  in  question  amounted  to  that  sum ;  and  there 
is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  Texas  would  have  as  promptly  agreed 
to  that  sum  as  to  the  lesser  one.  However  this  may  be,  the  fact 
now  is  that  the  compromise  of  1850  has  failed,  for  the  reason  that 
the  sum  assigned  for  the  indemnity  of  the  creditors  was  too 
small  by  the  difference  of  $3,333,333.  I  am  sure  that  the  sum 
would  have  been  fixed  at  what  now  is  proposed,  if  it  had  been 
understood  that  otherwise  the  compromise  would  fail  of  effect  for 
the  reason  that  it  has  failed. 

III.  I  consider  that  the  pla?i  of  the  committee  is  recommended 
by  justice: 

Justice  is  the  basis  of  moral  obligation.  Whether  there  is  a 
moral  obligation  between  the  United  States  and  these  creditors, 
is  a  question  concluded  by  the  act  of  annexation  of  1845,  and 
the  compromise  act  of  1850.  On  what  ground,  other  than  such 
an  obligation,  did  the  United  States,  in  1845,  leave  to  Texas  a 
peculiar  national  fund,  and  bind  her  to  use  it  to  pay  her  creditors 
generally,  and  stipulate  with  her  for  the  indemnity  of  the  United 
States  against  those  debts.  On  what  other  ground  did  the  United 
States,  in  1850,  reserve  in  their  own  treasury  five  millions  of  the 
sum  to  be  paid  to  Texas,  until  her  creditors  should  file  their 
releases  in  the  federal  treasury.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  it  is  just, 
and  the  United  States  are  bound  to  the  creditors  by  a  moral  obli- 
gation, to  see  their  debts  extinguished,  at  least  as  far  as  the  sum 
of  five  millions  would  go.  Under  just  such  circumstances,  a 
court  of  equity  would,  on  a  bill  of  interpleader,  direct  the  United 
States  to  pay  that  fund  to  those  creditors. 

But  the  moral  obligation  under  which  the  United  States 
assumed  to  indemnify  the  creditors  for  five  millions,  equally 
holds  for  their  indemnity  to  the  whole  amount  of  their  claims ; 
that  is,  for  $8,293,947  50.  If  we  were  under  no  moral  obligation 
to  pay  that  sum,  then  the  stipulation  to  pay  five  millions  was  a 
wanton  waste  of  that  sum  without  adequate  consideration  —  a 
position  which  no  one  here  will  assume. 

Such  are  the  grounds  on  which  the  plan  of  the  committee  is 
defended.  I  proceed  to  consider  the  objections  raised  against  it. 
The  honorable  senator  from  Yirginia,  Mr.  Hunter,  says  that  we 
are  under  no  obligations  to  pay  these  creditors,  because,  in  the 


672  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

act  of  annexation,  Texas  agreed  that  we  should  not  be  liable,  and 
that  she  would  pay  them,  and  that  the  creditors  had  notice  of 
that  annexation  on  those  terms,  and  did  not  protest,  and  therefore 
impliedly  consented.  But  the  honorable  senator  was  understood 
to  waive  this  point  of  implied  consent  by  the  creditors. 

I  take  the  objection,  however,  in  whatever  form,  and  say  in 
reply  :— 

1.  That  all  the  world  knows  that  a  protest  by  the  creditors 
against  the  act  of  annexation,  would  have  been  not  more  imper- 
tinent than  unavailing. 

2.  That  it  may  well  be  supposed  that  the  creditors  concerned 
may,  in  1845,  have  foreseen  that  although  the  United  States  then 
refused,  yet  in  1850  they  would  assume  the  debts  of  Texas,  to  the 
amount  supposed  to  be  received  by  the  revenues  of  Texas,  di- 
verted into  the  federal  treasury. 

The  senator  from  Virginia  objects,  secondly,  that  the  sover- 
eignty of  Texas  was  not,  by  the  act  of  annexation,  merged  in 
the  United  States ;  but  that,  on  the  contrary,  she  still  remains  a 
sovereign  state,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  adequate  and  ample 
resources,  viz. :  her  public  domain  and  capacity  for  direct  taxa- 
tion, to  pay  the  creditors. 

I  reply,  first,  that  while  the  public  domain  of  Texas,  like  our 
own,  and  her  capacity  for  direct  taxation,  like  our  own,  are 
valuable  resources  for  credit,  and  to  some  extent  for  expenses 
of  current  administration,  they  are  practically  unavailing  for 
the  payment  of  a  large  funded  debt.  The  resources  of  Texas 
for  that  purpose  were  their  customs,  which  we  have  diverted, 
and  so  annexation,  instead  of  increasing,  has  impaired  the  prac- 
tical ability  of  Texas  to  pay  her  debts. 

2.  This  objection  is  foreclosed  by  the  compromise  of  1S50. 

The  senator  from  Virginia  objects,  thirdly,  that  the  plan  pro- 
posed is  a  departure  from  the  theory  of  annexation,  wThich  the- 
ory was  that  Texas  should  pay  her  own  debt.  And  the  senator 
insists  that  the  compromise  of  1850  adhered  to  that  supposed 
theory  of  the  act  of  annexation,  because  it  directed  the  five  mil- 
lions to  be  paid,  not  to  the  creditors,  but  to  Texas  herself. 

I  reply,  that  the  imagined  adherence  in  the  compromise  of 
1850  to  the  theory  of  annexation,  is  an  adherence  in  form  only 
and  not  in  fact,  because  the  five  millions  of  dollars  are  to  be  paid  t<  > 
Texas  when  she  procures  releases  from  her  creditors,  and  never  to- 


TEXAS  AND  HER  CREDITORS.  673 

be  paid  if  they  will  never  give  the  releases.  So  the  stipulation 
is  exactly  the  same  thing  as  would  have  been  a  stipulation  for 
paying  the  live  millions,  or  so  much  as  should  be  due  directly  to 
the  creditors.  The  departure  from  the  supposed  theory,  then, 
was  made  in  1850,  and  is  not  to  be  made  in  1853.  We  must 
keep  on  in  the  course  of  1850  till  we  reach  the  goal. 

The  honorable  senator  objects  further  that  this  plan  of  the 
committee  to  pay  $8,333,333  at  three  per  cent.,  being  less 
than  the  usual  rate  of  interest  on  public  stocks,  is  a  scaling 
of  the  debts,  so  that  creditors  will  not  get  dollar  for  dollar,  and  is 
therefore  objectionable  on  the  same  ground  that  Texas  is  com- 
plaining of.  Grant  this  to  be  true,  still  I  reply  that  we  scale  less 
deeply  than  Texas.  Secondly,  that  we  are  mediating  between 
the  proper  parties ;  and  thirdly,  who  can  complain  ?  Not  Texas, 
for  we  take  nothing  from  her,  and  do  not  divert  any  fund  in 
which  she  has  a  claim.     Not  the  creditors,  for  they  assent. 

The  honorable  senator  further  objects  that  Texas  will  neverthe- 
less come  back  for  the  five  millions,  and  will  be  entitled  to  it. 
I  reply  that  Texas  has  already  declared,  by  an  act  of  January 
31,  1852,  that  $3,355,360  25  of  this  same  five  millions  is  justly- 
due  to  these  creditors,  and  shall  be  paid  to  them.  At  the  very- 
worst,  Texas  will  not  come  back  for  that  sum.  Will  Texas 
come  back  for  the  remaining  $1,644,639  75  ?  She  must  pro- 
duce releases  from  the  creditors  for  it.  They  will  have  already 
released,  upon  a  just  consideration  paid,  not  by  Texas  but  by 
the  United  States,  and  after  Texas  had  had  ample  time  to 
obtain  releases,  and  had  failed,  because  she  exacted  what  the 
creditors  were  neither  legally  nor  equitably  bound  to  yield. 

The  senator  from  Yirginia  objects  further  that  the  $8,333,333 
at  three  per  cent.,  will  cost  the  treasury  more  than  the  five  mil- 
lions at  five  per  cent.  It  will  cost  exactly  $3,333,333  more.  But 
that  is  no  good  objection,  if,  first,  it  is  necessary  to  pay  that  sum 
to  discharge  these  debts ;  and  if,  secondly,  it  is  j  ust,  both  of 
which  points  have  been  demonstrated. 

The  senator  at  last  falls  back  on  his  original  ground,  that  the 
United  States  are  not  liable  for  the  debt  of  Texas,  according  to 
the  law  of  nature  or  of  nations.  It  is  quite  too  late  to  raise  the 
question  after  the  act  of  annexation  of  1845,  and  the  compromise 
of  1850. 

Nevertheless,  I  will  briefly  consider  the  senator's  argument. 

Yol.  III.— 43 


674  SPEECHES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  SENATE. 

The  United  States  derived  advantages  from  the  annexation  of 
Texas,  and  creditors  had  aided  Texas  to  rise  to  the  condition  in 
which  her  union  was  thus  advantageous.  They  did  not  give  her 
a  dowry,  but  they  enabled  her  to  assume  her  own.  The  union  of 
Texas  with  the  United  States  and  of  her  revenues  was  a  division 
of  her  sovereignty,  rendering  her  less  fully  and  exclusively  ap- 
proachable by  creditors.  Was  there  not  in  these  circumstances 
sufficient  consideration  to  sustain  the  agreements  between  Texas 
and  the  United  States  for  the  benefit  of  the  creditors  ? 

Bynkershock  teaches  us  so  (p.  191). 

Again,  Texas  by  annexation  became  subject  to  the  debts  of  the 
United  States.  How  is  it  then  that  the  United  States  could  ac- 
quire Texas  without  coming  under  some  moral  obligation  to 
guaranty  the  debts  of  Texas? 

It  remains  only  to  notice  the  argument  of  the  honorable  sena- 
tor from  Texas,  Mr.  Houston,  which  seems  to  result  in  this :  that 
Texas  had  a  right  to  ascertain  and  fix  the  amount  of  her  liabilities, 
and  she  has  fixed  it  at  $3,355,360  25  and  the  United  States  and 
the  creditors  are  concluded  by  that  decision. 

I  reply,  that  was  not  the  agreement  in  the  compromise.  It 
was  that  the  creditors  should  release  their  claims.  If  they  will 
release  for  the  $3,355,360  22  it  is  enough.  But  they  have  not 
released  for  that  sum,  and  they  will  not. 

Then  the  senator  insists  that  Texas  is  just  and  they  unreason- 
able. I  do  not  think  so.  The  principle  assumed  by  Texas  is  that 
she  owes  her  creditors  not  what  she  agreed  to  pay,  but  the  value 
of  what  she  received  from  them.  It  needs  only  that  this  propo- 
sition should  be  stated  to  secure  its  rejection.  It  can  be  no  more 
just  in  the  case  of  Texas  in  regard  to  these  debts  than  in  any  other 
case  of  public  and  even  private  indebtednesss. 

The  argument,  however,  is  attempted  to  be  sustained  by  prece- 
dents. I  reply,  if  sound  it  needs  no  aid  from  precedents.  If 
unsound,  then  no  precedents  can  make  it  sound. 

There  is  only  one  ground  on  which  a  government  can  justly 
scale  its  debts — that  is  the  ground  of  absolute  inability  or  bank- 
ruptcy, and  then  there  must  be  a  devotion  of  all  its  wealth. 
Neither  Texas  nor  the  United  States  can  adopt  that  ground. 
Each  of  the  parties  is  prosperous,  each  is  rich,  and  they  can 
neither  assume  the  condition  nor  interpose  the  plea  of  insol 
vency. 


INDEX  TO  VOL.  III. 


A. 

PAGE. 

Adams,    John    Quincy,   Oration    on, 

1848 75 

Address  to,  1843 236 

Eulogy  on,  in  Court 281 

Letters  to 433,  454 

And  the  Monroe  Doctrine 605 

Addresses  (See  Speeches). 
Address  of    a    Republican    Conven- 
tion, 1824 335 

Minority  of  Legislature,  1831 .. .  338 
1834...  349 
1844...  363 
Adopted  Citizens  of  Philadelphia,  Let- 
ter to 468 

Agricultural  State  Fair,  Albany,  Ad- 
dress   164 

"                "            Rutland  ...  176 

Albany  Regency,  The,  in  1824 335 

Albany,  Citizens  of,  Letter  to 382 

Colored  Citizens  of,  Address  to . .  438 

Irishmen  of,  Address  to 220 

Meeting,  1848,  Letter  on 412 

American  Bible  Society,  Address 323 

Ashmun,  George,  Letter  to 401 

B. 

B S ,  1840,  Letter  to 386 

Babcock,  George  R.,  Letter  to 392 

Barber,  Edgar  A.,  Letter  to 420 

Bar  of  New  York,  Letter  to 505 

Barbecue  at  Cherry  Valley,  Letter  on  501 

Berdan,  David,  Eulogium  on 117 

Bible  Society,  American,  Address 223 

Birdsall  Benjamin,  Letter  to 488 

Bliss,  George,  Letter  to 421 

Bowen,  James,  Letter  to 422 

Brackett,  James,  Letter  to 501 

Bradish,  Luther,  Letter  to 390 

Brooks,  James,  Letter  to 406 

Brown,  William,  Letters  to 472,  475 

BuelL  Hon.  A  H.,  Eulogium  on 619 


c. 

PAOB. 

Cahoone,  Benjamin,  Letter  to 477 

Cartmen's  Meeting,  Address. 303 

Catholics  of  Ogdensburgh,  Address. . .  214 

Centennial  at  Cherry  Valley,  Address  224 

Chautauque  Citizens,  Letter  to 407 

Chase,  Salmon  P.,  Letter  to 440 

Citizens,  Adopted,  of  Phila.,  Letter  to  468 

Of  Cherry  Valley,  Letter  to 501 

"   Ogdensburgh,  Address  to. . . .  214 

"  Philadelphia,  Letter  to 505 

"  Steuben,  Letter  to 216 

"  Tioga,  Letter  to 417 

Clark,  John  C,  Letter  to 391 

Louis  Gaylord,  Letter  to 487 

Clarkson,  Thomas,  England,  Letter  to  436 

Clay,  Henry,  Eulogy  on 104 

And  Mr.  Seward  in  1844 253 

Cleveland  Speech,  1848 291 

Clinton,  De  "Witt,  Letter  on 471 

Colored  Citizens  of  Albany,  Address  to  438 

Of  New  York,  Letter  to 437 

Condolence,  Letter  of,  L  G.  C. 487 

Continental    Rights    and    Relations, 

Speech,  1853 605 

Continental  Railroad,  Speech,  1853..  623 

Correspondence,  General 375 

(See,  also,  Letters.) 

Credits,  State,  Letter  on 472,  475 

Croton  Celebration,  Address 231 

Cunard  Steamers,  Letter  on 478 

P. 

Delavan,  Edward  C,  Letter  to 471 

Deputies,  Chamber  of,  French 584 

Deny,  Edmund  S.,  Letter  to 490 

De  Witt  Clinton,  Letter  on 471 

Dickens's  Notes,  Letter  on 492 

Discipline,  Prison,  Letters  on 473,  603 

Downing,  B.  H.,  Letter  to 476 

Dublin,  Letter  from 518 

Duties  on  Railroad  Iron,  Speech 656 


676 


INDEX  TO  VOL.  III. 


PAGE. 

E. 

Education  and  Internal  Improvements  128 

Education,  Discourse  on,  1837 135 

Of  Females  commended 148 

Election  of  1844,  Speech 246 

Of  1844         "      260 

Of  1848         "      286 

Of  1848         "      291 

Of  1848         "      303 

Erie  Railroad,  Address,  1837 306 

1851 321 

History  of 306 

Jubilee 321 

Eulogy  on  John  Q.  Adams,  at  Albany     75 
In  Court.   281 

On  David  Berdan 117 

"    A.  H.  Buell,  in  Senate 619 

"    Henry  Clay,  in  Senate 104 

"    Lafayette 25 

"    O'Connell 44 

"    Daniel  Webster,  in  Senate.. .   Ill 

Ewing,  Thomas,  Letter  to 450 

Executive  Speeches 325 

To  an  Onondaga  Chief 325 

"      Oneida  Chief. 328 

At  the  Western  Railroad  Jubilee  330 
Extradition  of  Fugitives  from  Justice  469 

F. 

Fair,  Agricultural,  Albany,  Address. .   164 

Rutland 176 

Horticultural,  Boston 283 

Farms  and  Farmers,  Improvement  of  176 

Female  Education  advocated 148 

Fowle,  E.  J.,  Letter  to 412 

Freedom  and  Slavery,  Position 
of  the  two  Parties  on, 

Fugitives  from  Justice,  Letter  on. 469 

G. 

Greece,  Speech  for,  1824 197 

H. 

Hammond,  Jabez  D.,  Letter  to 434 

Harrison,  General,  Letter  to 381 

Harvey,  Jacob,  Letter  to 484 

Holland  Land  Company,  Letter  on . .  457 

Horticultural  Fair,  Address 283 

Hughes,  Bishop,  D.D.,  Letter  to 482 

Hunt,  Washington  Letter  to 404 

I. 

Internal  Improvements,  Address....   12j8 

Letters  on 417 

Ana*  the  Whigs 246,  260,  303 

Intelligencer,  National,  Letter  to. . . .  443 


PAGE. 

Ireland  and  Irishmen,  Oration 153 

Letter  on 494 

Ireland,  its  History 45 

And  Native  Americans 254 

Irishmen  of  Albany,  Address  to 220 

Of  Auburn,  Letter  to 493 

Irish  Testimonial,  Letter  on. 465 

Repeal,  Letter  on 490 

Iron,  Railroad,  Duty  on,  Speech 656 

Issue,  the  True,  1837,  Address 356 

J. 

Jubilee  of  the  New  York  and  Rail- 
road, 1851 321 

Of  the  Western  Railroad,  Massa- 
chusetts, 1842 330 

K. 

Kossuth,  Letters  on 504,  505,  506 

L. 

Lafayette,  Oration  on 26 

Letters  on 584,  588 

Lake,  Jarvis  N.,  Letter  to 402 

Law  Reform,  Letter  on 477 

Le  Fort,  Abraham,  Address  to 325 

Legislative  Addresses 338 

Letters,  General  Correspondence — 

Political. 375 

To  Adonijah  Moody 377 

"  H.  C.  W.,  1840 378 

"  General  Harrison 381 

"  Citizens  of  Albany 382 

"  B.  S.,  1840 386 

"  B.  S.,  1840 389 

"  Hon.  L  Bradish 390 

"  John  C.Clark 391 

"  George  R.  Babcock 392 

"  Whigs  of  Orleans 394 

"  Benjamin  Squire 396 

"  Whigs  of  Michigan 399 

"  Calvin  Townsley 400 

"  George  Ashmun 401 

"  Jarvis  N.  Lake 402 

"  Washington  Hunt 404 

"  James  Brooks 406 

"  Chautauque  Convention 407 

"  Orleans  Whig  Convention. . . .   410 
"  E.  J.  Fowle,  on  Albany  Meeting  412 

"  James  Watson  Webb 414 

"  James  B.  Taylor 416 

Internal  Improvements 417 

To  Citizens  of  Tioga 417 

"  Samuel  P.  Lyman 419 

"  Edgar  A.  Barber 420 

"  George  Bliss 421 

"  James  Bowen 422 

*   Pacific  Railroad  Convention . .  424 


INDEX  TO  VOL  lit 


677 


Letters  on  Slavery —  page. 

To  Wm.  Jay  and  Gerrit  Smith. .  426 

"  John  Sears 432 

"  John  Quincy  Adams 433 

"  Jabez  D.  Hammond 434 

"  Austin  Pray 435 

"  Thomas  Clarkson 436 

"  Colored  Citizens  of  New  York  437 
"         "  "  Albany  . .  438 

"  Gerrit  Smith 439 

"  S.  P.  Chase 440 

"  National  Intelligencer 443 

"  Massachusetts  Convention  . . .   445 
Letters  on  the  M'Leod  Case — 

To  Peter  B.  Porter 449 

"  Thomas  Ewing 450 

"  Lovell  G.  Mickle 451 

"  E.  Nott,  D.D 453 

"  John  Quincy  Adams 454 

Miscellaneous — 

On  Holland  Land  Company,  to 

Citizens  of  Chautauque 457 

"  St.  Nicholas  Society 464 

"  Irish    Testimonial,    to   W.   J. 

MacNeven 465 

"  St.  Andrew's  Society 467 

"  Adopted  Citizens  of  Philadel- 
phia, to  Stephen  Ed w.  Rice .  468 
"  Extradition  of  Fugitives  from 
Justice,  to  H.  W.  Rogers. . .  469 

"  De  Witt  Clinton 471 

"  State  Credits,  to  Wm.  Brown.  472 
"  Prison  Discipline,  to  J.  Luckey  473 
"  Religious  Liberty,  to  J.  D.  S. . .  474 
"  State  Credits,  to  Wm.  Brown  475 

"  St  George's  Society 476 

"  Law  Reform,  to  Benj.  Cahoone  477 

"  Cunard  Steamers 478 

"  Schools,  to  William  Palmer. .  480 
"  Militia  Duty,  to  S.  Parsons. . .  481 
"  Schools,  to  Bishop  Hughes,  D.D  482 
"  Seneca  Indians,  to  J.  Harvey  484 
"  Condolence,  to  L.  G.  Clark. . .  487 
"  Schools,  to  Benjamin  Birdsall  488 
"  Irish  Repeal,  to  E  S.  Derry. .  490 
"  Dickens's  Notes,  to  H.  L.  Webb  492 

"  Irishmen  of  Auburn 493 

"  Ireland   and   Irishmen,    to  J. 

Maher 494 

"  Barbecue  at  Cherry  Valley,  to 

James  Brackett 501 

"  Prison    Discipline,    to     New 

York  Prison  Association 503 

"  Kossuth,  to  Citizens  of  Phila. .  504 
m  ««         «  New  York  Bar. .   505 

"         "         "  Pittsburgh  Printers  506 
Letters  from  Europe — 

Introductory  Note 508 

Letter  I.  Liverpool,  Theatre,  <fec 509 

II.  Chester,  the  Cathedral 515 

III.  Dublin,  Parliament 518 

IV.  Dublin,  Robert  Emmett 526 


Letters  from  Europe —  page. 

V.  Belfast,  Drogheda 636 

VI.  Glasgow,  Moore,  Watt 542 

VII.  Edinburgh,  Burns,  Hume. .  549 

VIII.  York,  London,  Windsor. .  569 

IX.  Cobbett,  Peel,  O'Connell. ...  564 

X.  Hull  and  Rotterdam 574 

XI.  From  Sens  to  Paris 579 

XII.  Paris,  Chamber  of  Deputies  584 

XIIL  Lafayette  in  Paris. 688 

XIV.  Lafayette  at  La  Grange. . .  595 

Luckey,  Rev.  John,  Letter  to 473 

Lyman,  Samuel  P.,  Letter  to 419 

M. 

MacNeven,  W.  J.,  Letter  to 465 

Maher,  James,  Letter  to 494 

Massachusetts  Convention,  Letter  to.  445 

M'Leod  Case,  Letters  on  the 449 

Mexico  and  the  Continental  Railroad  623 

Michigan  Whigs,  Letter  to 399 

Mickles,  Lovell  G.,  Letter  to 451 

Militia  Duty,  Letter  on 481 

Minority  of  Legislature,  Address  1831  388 

1834  349 

1844  363 

Miscellaneous  Letters  457 

Monroe  Doctrine,  Discussed 605 

Moody,  Adonijah,  Letter  to 877 


K 


Native  Americanism,  246, 254,  378,  386, 468 
New  York  and  Erie  Railroad. . .  .306,  321 
Nott,  Eliphalet,  D.D.,  Letter  to 453 

o. 

Occasional  Speeches  and  Addresses. .  191 

O'Connell,  Oration  on 44 

His  Death  and  Consequences. ...     72 
Ogdensburgh,  Citizens  of,  Address  to  211 

Catholics,  Address  to 214 

Oneida  Chief,  Speech  to 328 

Onondaga  Chief,  Speech  of. 325 

Orations  and  Discourses — 

The  True  Greatness  of  our  Country    1 1 

Death  of  Lafayette 25 

O'Connell. 44 

"  John  Q.  Adams 75 

Henry  Clay 104 

Daniel  Webster. Ill 

David  Berdan 117 

Internal  Improvements  and  Edu- 
cation    128 

Education  at  Westfield,  1837...   136 

Ireland  and  Irishmen 153 

Agriculture,  Albany 164 

Improvement  of  Farms  and  Far- 
mers     176 


678 


INDEX  TO  VOL.  IIL 


PAGE. 

Pacifio  Railroad  Convention,  Letter  to  424 

Pacific  Railroad,  1853,  Speech 623 

Patriotism,  Syracuse,  Address 200 

Palmer,  Wm.,  Letter  to 480 

Parsons,  Samuel,  Letter  to. 481 

Political  Writings — 

Address  of  a  Republican  Conven- 
tion, 1824 335 

Address  of  Minority  of  Leg.,  1831  338 

M          "     Of  Legislature,  1834  349 

1844  363 

The  True  Issue,  1838 356 

Political  History 335 

Political  Letters 377 

Porter,  Peter  B.,  Letter  to 449 

Pray,  Austin,  Letter  to 435 

Printers  of  Pittsburgh,  Letter  to 506 

Prison  Association,  Letter  to 503 

Prison  Discipline,  Letters  on 473,  503 

Pruyn,  Robert  H.,  Letter  to 464 

K. 

Railroad,  Erie,  Address,  at  Elmira . . .  306 

Dunkirk..  321 

Western,  Springfield,  Mass. 330 

Continental  or  Pacific,  Speech  . .  623 

Iron,  Duty  on,  Speech 656 

Reform,  Law,  Letter  on 477 

Regency,  the  Albany,  in  1824 335 

Repeal  Meeting,  Address  at 153,  254 

Rice,  Stephen  Edward,  Letter  to. 468 

Rogers,  Henry  W.,  Letter  to 469 

s. 

Schools,  Letters  on 480,  482,  488 

Schuyler,  Moses,  Speech  to 328 

Sears,  John,  Letter  to 432 

Seneca  Indians,  Letter  to 484 

Slavery,  Relations  of  the  j  246,  260,  286, 

Whig  Party  to                  {           291,  303 

Speech  on,  at  Cleveland,  Ohio. . .  291 

Letters  on 426 

Smith,  G.  &  Wm.  Jay,  Letters  to.  .426,  439 

Smith,  John  Dillon,  Letter  to 474 

Speeches  and  Addresses,  Occasional. .  191 

The  Union,  Auburn 193 

For  Greece,  Auburn 197 

Patriotism,  Syracuse 200 

Typographical  Society 206 

Sunday  School  Celebration 208 

To  the  Citizens  of  Ogdensburgh.  211 

"       Catholics  of  Ogdensburgh  214 

"        Citizens  of  Steuben 216 

"       Irishmen  of  Albany 220 

American  Bible  Society 223 

Centennial,  Cherry  Valley 224 

St  Patrick's  Dinner 229 

Croton  Celebration 231 


Speeches  and  Addresses —  page. 

John  Quincy  Adams 236 

Whig  Mass  Meeting,  Auburn. . . .  239 

Election  of  1844,  Syracuse 246 

Ireland  and  Native  Americans. . .  254 
Whig  Mass  Meeting,  Yates  Co. . .  260 

St.  Patrick's  Dinner,  1846 275 

Eulogy  on  J.  Q.  Adams,  in  Court  281 
Horticultural  Festival,  Boston. . .  283 
Whig  Mass  Meeting,  Boston,  1848  28C 
Meeting  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  1848  291 
Cartmen's  Meeting,  N.  Y.,  1843.  303 
New  York  and  Erie  Railroad,  1837  306 
1851  321 
Abraham  Le  Fort,  Indian  Chief. .  325 
Moses  Schuyler,  Indian  Chief. . .  388 
Western  Railroad,  Massachusetts  330 

Speeches,  Executive 325 

Speeches  in  the  United  States  Senate  603 
Continental  Rights  and  Relations  605 
Eulogium  on  Hon.  A  H.  Buell. .  619 
Mexico  and  Continental  Railroad  623 
Duty  on  Foreign  Railroad  Iron . .   656 

Texas  and  her  Creditors 667 

Squire,  Benjamin,  Letter  to 396 

State  Credits,  Letters  on 472,  475 

Steuben,  Citizens  of,  Letter  to 216 

St.  Andrew's  Society,  Letter  to 467 

St.  George's  Society,  Letter  to 476 

St  Nicholas  Society,  Letter  to 464 

St  Patrick's  Society,  Letter  to  . .  .229,  275 
Sunday  School  Celebration,  Address. .  208 

T. 

Taylor,  James  B.,  Letter  te 416 

Testimonial,  Irish,  Letter  on 465 

Texas  and  her  Creditors 667 

Townsley,  Calvin,  Letter  to 400 

True  Greatness  of  our  Country,  Oration     1 1 

True  Issue,  The,  Address 856 

Typographical  Society,  Address 206 

w. 

Webb,  Henry  L.,  Letter  to 492 

Webb,  James  Watson,  Letter  to 414 

Webster,  Daniel,  Eulogium  on Ill 

Western  Railroad  Celebration,  Address  330 
W.  H.  C,  Letter  to,  1840 878 

Whig  Party  and  Freedom  j  246'  *JJJ  ^ 

Whig  Party  and   Internal  Improve- 
ments  246,  260,  303 

Whig  Party  and  Native  Americans  378,  386 

Whigs  of  Auburn,  <fec,  Address 239 

"   Boston,  Mass.,  Address 286 

11   Cleveland,  Ohio,  Address. . .   291 

"   Michigan,  Letter  to 399 

"    New  York,  Address 303 

"   Orleans,  Letter  to 394,  410 

"   Syracuse,  Address 246 

"  Yates  County,  Address.. . . .  260 


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